Suburban Cook County always has secure elections, and our county officials have high regard for voters’ rights, but pollwatching is still an important component of free and fair elections. And pollwatching by an independent organization like the League of Women Voters is critical.
I have coordinated the LWVE Pollwatcher Project for several years. For the 2024 Presidential Election, we had 6 pollwatchers. For the March 2026 primary, we increased our number to 16! We covered all 25 polling places (46 precincts) in Evanston and 20 polling places (40 precincts) in Skokie.
Our main goal when pollwatching is to ensure that voters’ rights are protected. We are a “democracy watchdog,” as one LWVE pollwatcher, Mary Kelly, said. Another of our pollwatchers, Mary Rothschild, told the Evanston RoundTable during her Election Day interview, “It’s important that the citizens know that we’re out there making sure they have fair access to everything while they vote.”
As pollwatchers, we observe how the election is conducted. But before we can do that, we need to know our rights and responsibilities – what we can and can’t do. Prior to Election Day, I led an in-person training based on several documents, including one with specific guidelines on what to look for. Pollwatchers received a survey to fill out for each precinct visited. For those who couldn’t attend in person, the same training was offered on Zoom.
What do pollwatchers do on Election Day? Our responsibilities start when we approach a polling place to make sure that a United States flag, and signs, are visible to voters and that the location is accessible to voters with mobility issues. All the polling places in Evanston and Skokie are accessible. We also make sure there is no interference or harassment by anyone as voters enter the polling place. We watch the voting equipment to make sure it is working properly. We look to see if there are enough Election Judges (the people who work at a polling place) and if the room is big enough to hold the equipment with enough space for voter privacy. And critically, we observe the Election Judges and their ability to check in voters, register new voters, and give voters their correct ballots (activation cards to vote on the touchscreens or paper ballots, whichever the voter chooses) so that voters can vote privately and cast their ballots in a secure scanner.
All LWVE pollwatchers reported a positive experience. The election ran very smoothly, and there were no security issues. Voting equipment was working properly or was fixed by Cook County Field Techs. Election Judges were very friendly and courteous, and teamwork was exceptional. In every precinct, Election Judges cheered and clapped when a first-time voter registered, making them feel very special! We talked to one Polling Place Technician (PPT, an election judge with more training on the voting equipment) in Skokie who started as a student judge at age 16; this was her 10th year working as an election judge, and for 8 of those years she has served as a PPT!
Following Election Day, our team reviewed the surveys submitted by LWVE pollwatchers and prepared a report for the Cook County Clerk’s Office. We included many positive comments and also noted issues that pollwatchers observed along with suggestions for addressing those issues, where appropriate. One example of a problematic issue is the size of the room for voting. A few locations were a little small or the number of precincts in the room caused some confusion. Another is the dropping off of mail-in ballots. The Early Voting site in Evanston, Robert Crown Community Center, is also an Election Day polling place for two precincts. Since it was open, many voters tried to drop off their mail-in ballots at Robert Crown on Election Day–but the location could only accept mail-in ballots for other precincts during the Early Voting period. Election judges gave those voters three options: going to the post office and getting their mail-in ballot postmarked by hand; going to their Election Day precinct, surrendering their mail-in ballot, and voting in person; or taking the completed ballot to the nearest designated Election Day Vote Center (Skokie Courthouse) and dropping it into the official dropbox there.
Our summary report was also given to the LWVE Board and shared with the Cook County and Illinois Leagues, and we participated in the LWVIL debrief on pollwatching to share our experiences.