Work at the Polls

Election Officers & Volunteers

News (Updated 9/13/21)

  • Election Day assignments will be sent out on September 21st and September 22nd.  Assignment letters will arrive via email and include instructions on your assignment location, how to sign up for training, and how to notify us if you are now not available.
  • Training for this election will start October 5th and will be completed online.  Due to rising COVID numbers and the limited availability of meeting locations, training will continue to be completed online through Microsoft Teams.  This has been popular with election officers and increases the safety for all involved.
  • We are working to balance returning officers and new officers. Many long-serving officers stepped aside in 2020 due to health risks and we had a flood of new applications last year from community members that wanted to get involved. We are doing our best to keep both groups engaged, but we may not have enough spots for every interested party with less than 500 officers needed and more than 1,100 officers interested in working in November. We will work to balance out these assignments over the election cycle and appreciate this commitment from so many of you.

Become an Election Officer

Election Officers are an essential position that serve voters at polling places on Election Day and during early voting.  To serve, you must be a registered Virginia voter.  High school students and volunteers can also work at polling places or assist with election-related activities.  Learn more:
Apply to Be an Election Official

Training

Once election officers have received an official assignment to work the election, they must complete a training class.  Assignment emails are customized each election to notify the election officer what type of training they must complete.  Links:
Online Training

Resources

This section offers resources and forms election officers sometimes need to complete before an election.
Election Officer Oath - Fill out only after completing a training class.
W9 Tax Form - For election officers working for the first time or those who have recently changed name or address.

Questions or Issues

Send us an email at pollworkers@arlingtonva.us or call us at 703-228-3456.

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