Poll worker training outlines Alabama municipal election procedures

Greg Woodrow, a trainer with Election Systems and Software, led a municipal poll-worker training that reviewed opening and closing procedures, voter identification rules, provisional- and absentee-ballot handling, poll-watcher requirements and equipment checks for Alabama municipal elections. "You must arrive no later than 06:30," Woodrow said, noting polling places must open for voters at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.

The training matters because poll workers follow these procedures on election day to ensure ballots are accounted for, voters are processed lawfully and polling places remain accessible and secure. The session covered printed materials that must be displayed, how to account for and reconcile ballots, and steps for voters who lack photo identification.

Woodrow walked workers through opening tasks: arriving before polls open, inventorying the record-elections supply box, posting supplied signage (voter assistance, no photography, no campaign material within 30 feet of the entrance), setting up directional signs and accessibility devices, and generating a zero ("0") tape on tabulation equipment that inspectors, clerks and watchers must sign and keep intact.

On ballot accounting, Woodrow instructed workers to complete the ballot…