Who may be an Election Judge?

An election judge must be:

• eligible to vote in the State of Minnesota
• able to read, write, and speak English
• appointed by the appointing authority (county, city, township, or school board)
• trained and currently certified as an election judge

An election judge cannot be:

• a candidate in that election (i.e. is running for an office on the ballot used in that precinct)
• the husband, wife, parent, child, brother, or sister of a candidate or another judge in the same precinct
• a challenger

Who may be an Election Judge Trainee?

High school students 16 and 17 years of age can be trainee election judges. Students who are 18 years of age or older can serve as regular election judges.

To serve as trainee election judges students must:

• be at least 16 years of age
• serve in the county where they reside
• be in good academic standing
• have completed or are enrolled in a course on government
• have permission from their school and parents

Trainee election judges can serve for all elections. They cannot serve past 10:00 p.m. and cannot number more than 1/3 of the election judges in any one precinct. Trainee election judges, like other election judges, are not required to serve the entire day. Because trainee judges serve without party affiliation, they cannot perform tasks that must be carried out by two judges of different political parties, such as curbside voting. However, trainee election judges can perform any other election judge tasks and should be assigned those duties just as other election judges are assigned. Trainees do not count toward the minimum number of election judges required to serve.

Before serving in an election, all election judges and student trainee election judges must complete election judge training and be certified as an election judge. This course is offered by the City Clerk's Office. Every judge who completes training receives an election judge certificate that is valid for two years. To stay current with changing election law and ballot counting technology, election judges will renew their election judge certificate by again completing the training course every two years.

In addition to election judge training and certification, head election judges complete an additional hour of training every two years to be certified as head election judge.

Election judges assisting with Health Care Facility absentee voting complete one hour of training every two years (in addition to electon judge training) to be certified as HCF absentee election judges.

If you are interested in serving as an election judge in North Mankato, contact the City Clerk's Office, or complete the Election Judge Application Form.