Wise seeks residents willing to serve as 2018 election judges


Election judges who served in the November 2017 election in Gainesville wore red, white and blue to celebrate the patriotic occasion. From back, left: Renee Schmucker, Lana Cockrum, Dennis Lawson and Diane White. Ozark County Clerk Brian Wise is seeking qualified residents interested in serving as judges in upcoming elections. Times file photo.

Ozark County Clerk Brian Wise is seeking election judges to serve in upcoming elections in April and August. He likes to find “people who care about the process and believe in elections.” After all, he said, “the judges’ faces are the first people voters see when they come to the polling place, so we want our election judges to be good representatives of our county.” 

To be eligible to serve as an election judge, the person must be a registered voter and must declare a party – that’s a sticking point for some residents. Wise said he often has a hard time finding judges willing to declare their party affiliation. 

He prefers to hire judges who live in the township where they will be working in the polling place because the job requires long hours – usually from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Judges are typically paid $110 as a regular judge or $120 as a supervisor. There’s no lunch break, so judges must bring their own food. Wise said in some precincts, the judges bring potluck offerings to share throughout the day. The job involves checking state-mandated photo IDs and voting registration rolls, handing out ballots and helping voters understand the procedure. The supervising judges then bring the voting machine boxes to the county clerk’s office after polls close. For more information, call Wise at 679-3516. 

Ozark County Times

504 Third Steet
PO Box 188
Gainesville, MO 65655

Phone: (417) 679-4641
Fax: (417) 679-3423