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Grundy County clerk switches poll worker training to SOE; $10,000 vendor credit and new video modules planned
Summary
County clerk reports transition to SOE online poll-worker training with a $10,000 vendor credit covering implementation, a $6,000 annual subscription, new short instructional videos produced locally, petition filing dates for March primary, and results of a recent mass voter-registration mailing of 37,144 cards.
Kaye, Grundy County clerk, told the Election, Tax and Technology Committee on Aug. 5 that the county will replace its old online poll-worker training with SOE, a widely used vendor for poll-worker training, and that the county’s current vendor will provide a $10,000 credit to cover first-year implementation costs.
The change will move the county to a video-based training platform hosted by SOE, with an annual subscription fee of $6,000 to be paid from the clerk’s election budget, Kaye said. The subscription covers hosting, licensing, maintenance, support and 28 hours of technical and content development; the clerk said those recurring costs were already included in the upcoming budget.
Kaye said the county produced short instructional videos locally and began shooting with a local videographer so the materials could be uploaded to SOE in time for the March primary. "We did begin shooting the videos yesterday and we finished them up this afternoon," Kaye said. She told the committee the videos will allow judges to view close-up, task-specific demonstrations on a phone during setup or takedown of equipment.
Kaye described a hybrid approach going forward: judges would complete online training first, with optional in-person sessions for Q&A and elections-specific reminders. She said staff can use an administrative dashboard to track judges’ progress through the online training.
The clerk also reminded the committee that petition filing for the March primary runs Monday, Oct. 27, through Monday, Nov. 3, and that petition packets remain available on the county clerk’s website and in person at the clerk’s office.
Separately, Kaye reported a voter-registration mass mailing sent in mid-September totaling 37,144 cards; fewer than 900 were returned to date. "We're now doing the follow-up work on those that have been returned," she said, and noted Illinois law requires sending new voter-registration cards every two years.
The committee did not take formal action on the clerk’s report; the committee members asked questions and acknowledged the update.
