Poll Worker Decision Making at the American Ballot Box
Part of Special Symposium on Election Sciences
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6180332 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mara Suttmann-Lea (0000-0003-0345-4529, Connecticut College, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 714-718 |
| Publication date | 2020-11-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Politics Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1532-673X • E-ISSN: 1552-3373 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1532673x20920266 |
| OpenAlex | W3030246557 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 10 |
| References cited | 10 |
Street-level bureaucrats set the terms for policy implementation and often operate under limited oversight. In American elections, poll workers are the street-level bureaucrats tasked with implementing a jurisdiction’s laws for verifying voter eligibility. Using in-depth interviews with 24 poll workers from the city of Chicago, this article assesses how poll workers make decisions about voter eligibility under Illinois’ signature-matching law. Respondents discussed a range of considerations used when they examine voter eligibility. The evidence I present suggests they rely on personal perspectives and experiences in their evaluations. Respondents also offered a range of responses for how they would proceed in the instance of a mismatching signature—including requesting voters provide identification even though it is not a requirement in Illinois unless a voter is challenged. Broadly, these results illustrate how poll workers’ subjective interpretations of election law shape their decisions and can lead to idiosyncratic applications of election law
Ballot · Jurisdiction · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Voting · Computer Science · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Law · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Public Administration
The (Missing?) Role of Institutions in Behavioral Public Administration
Path to the Polls
Poll Worker Experience and Polling Place Operations
On the frontline of democracy
Bureaucratic Bias or Voter-Side Factors? Testing Competing Explanations for Racial Gaps in Vote-By-Mail Ballot Signature Rejections
Vote Aqui! The Experiences and Motivations of Poll Worker Translators
Determinants of Rejected Mail Ballots in Georgia’s 2018 General Election
Vote Centers and the Voter Experience
Proper Protective (Voting) Equipment
Vote-by-mail Ballot Rejection and Experience with Mail-in Voting
Citizen Demands and Urban Services
Who Asks For Voter Identification? Explaining Poll-Worker Discretion
Employee Investment and Commitment
Representative Bureaucracy and Partisanship
The Human Dimension of Elections
Controlling Democracy
Race, Bureaucratic Discretion, and the Implementation of Welfare Reform
The Street-Level Bureaucrats of Elections
Putting Inequality in Its Place
What Do I Need to Vote? Bureaucratic Discretion and Discrimination by Local Election Officials
| Citations per year | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2021 - 2025 (5) |
| Highly cited | No |