When you have the experience and are certain your background is fairly clean, make sure that you are a qualified and registered voter in the county that you want to be an election judge within. For obvious reasons only those who are qualified voters may run for this office. While there is the off chance that you might get through without having any education, you will not make it if you are not a voter.
Because the possible judges are chosen from the following year's results, you need to get involved with your chosen political party immediately and get to work. The party with the greatest amount of votes for that year is allowed to select the electoral judge from amongst themselves. Whichever party comes in second is allowed to select the alternate judge.
You'll need to get in touch with the country clerk, who is charged with keeping records for the entire county, to have your name put on the supplementary list of election judges. This of course does not guarantee that you will get the position, because it is mostly dependent upon someone else dropping out of the race, opening the door for you.
After all that, you need to begin lobbying the county chair for your chosen party in order to get the election judge position that you want. Keep in mind that each party is required to choose an election judge for the state, local, and federal primaries.
If you are successful, you will receive an appointment letter. The appointment letter will tell you many different things, one of which is exactly how long you'll be spending as an election judge. The normal length of time for an election judge is two years, so make sure that you are prepared for that sort of commitment. Naturally though, if you've come this far you're prepared for the commitment, and if you aren't, then why you actually came this far is a very good question.
The next step is to sign your appointment letter and undergo election judge training which is in most states a two- to three-hour session that occurs at different locations around the state, essentially whichever location is best for you. Of course this doesn't guarantee that you are elected, it just means that you are now fully qualified, especially if you've gotten this far. Your next step is to go to the actual election and do your best to win the position of election judge. You need to be careful here, because this is where it will be determined whether or not you actually plan to take your duties as an election judge seriously. When it is determined that you are the right person for the job, then you will be informed and possibly even selected for the position. Keep in mind that if selected, you will not receive much money, if any at all. If you are incredibly lucky you might get a stipend of about $200, but that is only if you are incredibly lucky. This position is about making a difference and being part of the voting process rather than getting rich.
Getting this position is fairly easy, and definitely not as hard as other positions in local government. This of course does not mean that you should take it lightly, because as an election judge you are charged with making sure the elections go according to plan. The elections are among the most important parts of any government, so having this resting on your shoulders can be very unnerving. Do your best, and most of all, good luck!
