Commonwealth of Virginia
Office of Governor Ralph S. Northam
August 20, 2018
Dear State Employees,
With Election Day less than three months away, my administration is working to ensure that the voting process runs as smoothly as possible. One important part is adequately staffing all of the Commonwealth’s voting precincts with Officers of Election.
Officers of Election are stationed in polling places on Election Day, and serve two primary roles: helping citizens vote and making sure that all votes are properly counted. Specific duties include opening the polls to voters, verifying voter identification to ensure voter eligibility, obtaining the count of votes from the voting equipment, and reporting the voting results to the Electoral Board. Officers of Election must be registered voters in the Commonwealth.
Since 2008, state employees have been encouraged to volunteer to serve as Officers of Election. Many localities expect a high voter turnout this year and have expressed the need for additional volunteers.
State policy (Department of Human Resource Management Policy Number 4.05) allows you to use Civil and Work-Related Leave to serve as an Officer of Election, if your work schedule allows and your supervisor approves. Please contact your Human Resources Office for additional information.
To volunteer as an Officer of Election, please complete the Officer of Election Interest Form found on the Department of Elections website: http://apps.elections.virginia.gov/OnlineForms/OfficerofElection.
Thank you for your support and for your service to the Commonwealth.
Sincerely,
Ralph S. Northam
