Contact Information For California Counties

Attention UC Berkeley Students - Here's a GREAT opportunity to participate in the electoral process and get paid for it!

California needs your help at the Presidential Primary Election on June 3, 2008.  Each county is responsible for the staffing of its polling places.  There are approximately 25,000 precincts throughout the State, and a minimum of 100,000 poll workers are needed for a state-wide election. There was a critical shortage of poll workers for the June 2006 election, and in some counties for the November 2006 election and for the February 2008 Presidential Primary. Please consider volunteering in the 2008 Statewide Direct Primary (June 3) and the General Election (November 4) to help out the counties and do your part to ensure well-conducted elections. In some counties there is a shortage for February 5 and there will be for June 3 as well. There will likely be a shortage for June 3, because many people are away during the summer. Contact the county (click on tabs above for contact info) where you live or one nearby to sign up for the June 3 Primary now! It is especially helpful if you are willing to take on some responsibility and volunteer as an inspector on Election Day. The counties need sharp and energetic people to fill inspector positions and help ensure smooth running polling places.

(Note: You do not have to volunteer in the county where you are registered to vote; however, you must submit your ballot to or in the county where you are registered.)

Where ever you live, in Berkeley or surrounding areas, please consider signing up as a poll worker.  It is a great way to serve your community, to learn about the election process, and it looks great on a resume!  Here are the qualifications needed to become a poll worker:

- Be a registered voter anywhere in the State of California (click here for a Registration form)

- Be at least 18 years of age (or a high school student over 16 with a GPA of 2.5 or above)

- Be able to work on election day from at 6 am to 9 pm (yes, its a long day, but you get breaks)

- You may be asked to attend a paid training

Working at the polls is a non-partisan activity.  The counties train their poll workers in the weeks preceding each election.  Many counties are looking for poll workers that are bilingual, not just in Spanish, but also in languages like Russian, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Filipino. County election offices may also hire translators for Election Day who do not also work as poll workers. California really needs poll workers who are comfortable with computer technology because most polling places will have at least one electronic voting machine. 

Please consider helping out! You could sign up with a friend and ask to be placed in the same polling place.  You could also recruit a group of people and run an entire polling place!  You will get paid (anywhere from $70 to $150 depending on the position and the county), you'll feel great about making a contribution to our democratic process, and you'll have lots of stories to tell afterwards.  We are poll workers ourselves and we can tell you from experience that it’s fun and interesting to meet the people who go to the polls and to assist them in having a positive voting experience.

To sign up, click on the above tabs to find links or a phone number to the county in which you will be residing on election day.

Thanks for your interest,

Karin Mac Donald and Bonnie Glaser
Election Administration Research Center