An election judge is the traffic cop of the ballot box, the person who opens up the polling place before dawn, enforces the rules during the day, counts the votes at night and goes home very tired.
It can be fun, but even with the lure of a $100 paycheck for what usually turns into a 16-hour day, there often are not enough people to serve as judges. Now Cook County Clerk David Orr has offered a proposal to fill the vacancies and turn Election Day into a learning experience. He has proposed letting high school seniors work as election judges.
As the law now stands, Illinoisans can't serve as election judges unless they are at least 18 and can vote. The bill would allow seniors who aren't yet 18 to police polling places, although they still wouldn't be allowed to cast a ballot.
This would be a learning experience for the teens. They would learn that in Chicago the precinct captain is always good for a box of jelly donuts in the morning and usually good for a fast-food run at noontime. They would learn that each polling place is supposed to have Republican judges and Democratic judges, but the last Republican left Chicago years ago so the Republican judges usually are Democrats in disguise.
They also would learn that being an election judge means going through a long, tedious, unglamorous day for a very high purpose. They would see democracy outside a textbook.
The bill has broad, bipartisan support from the likes of Sen. Steve Rauschenberger (R-Elgin) and Rep. Andrea Moore (R-Libertyville), and Sen. Lisa Madigan (D-Chicago) and Rep. Mike Boland (D-East Moline). It's a good idea, and the legislature should make it the law.