§ 3501.27Qualifications of precinct officials

(A) All precinct election officials shall complete a program of instruction pursuant to division (B) of
this section. No person who has been convicted of a felony or any violation of the election laws, who
is unable to read and write the English language readily, or who is a candidate for an office to be
voted for by the voters of the precinct in which the person is to serve shall serve as an election
officer. A person when appointed as an election officer shall receive from the board of elections a
certificate of appointment that may be revoked at any time by the board for good and sufficient
reasons. The certificate shall be in the form the board prescribes and shall specify the precinct, ward,
or district in and for which the person to whom it is issued is appointed to serve, the date of
appointment, and the expiration of the person's term of service.


(B) Each board shall establish a program as prescribed by the secretary of state for the instruction of
election officers in the rules, procedures, and law relating to elections. In each program, the board
shall use training materials prepared by the secretary of state and may use additional materials
prepared by or on behalf of the board. The board may use the services of unpaid volunteers in
conducting its program and may reimburse those volunteers for necessary and actual expenses
incurred in participating in the program.


The board shall train each new election officer before the new officer participates in the first election
in that capacity. The board shall instruct election officials who have been trained previously only
when the board or secretary of state considers that instruction necessary, but the board shall
reinstruct such persons, other than voting location managers, at least once in every three years and
shall reinstruct voting location managers before the primary election in even-numbered years. The
board shall schedule any program of instruction within sixty days prior to the election in which the
officials to be trained will participate.


(C) The duties of a precinct election official in each polling place shall be performed only by an
individual who has successfully completed the requirements of the program, unless such an
individual is unavailable after reasonable efforts to obtain such services.



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(D) The secretary of state shall establish a program for the instruction of members of boards of
elections and employees of boards in the rules, procedures, and law relating to elections. Each
member and employee shall complete the training program within six months after the member's or
employee's original appointment or employment, and thereafter each member and employee shall
complete a training program to update their knowledge once every four years or more often as
determined by the secretary of state.


(E) The secretary of state shall make grants to the boards of elections to pay the cost of programs
established pursuant to division (B) of this section.




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