Volunteer election assistants wanted

The European and local elections will take place on 9 June 2024 and a new state parliament will be elected in Saxony on 1 September 2024. For these two elections, the electoral authority of the City of Chemnitz is looking for citizens to volunteer as election assistants.

Who can be a poll worker and what does a poll worker have to do?
To ensure the proper conduct of the European and local elections on 9 June 2024 and the election to the 8th Saxon state parliament on 1 September 2024, an electoral board of up to nine people will be formed for each of the 129 general electoral districts and 61 postal ballot boards. This board will ensure that voting runs smoothly and that votes are counted in the respective polling station on election Sunday. An electoral board consists of the chief electoral officer, the deputy chief electoral officer and three to seven assessors.

All persons who are German citizens and have reached the age of 18 can be election assistants. To volunteer for the European and local elections, election assistants must also have lived in Chemnitz for at least three months prior to the election day. The same deadline applies to the main place of residence in Saxony for election assistant work in state elections.

Activities on election day:
The electoral boards meet on the respective election day at 7.30 a.m. at the latest in the polling station for the final preparations. The Chief Electoral Officer instructs the members of the electoral board on their tasks and allocates the deployment and break times so that a deployment will generally not extend over the entire day. The polling stations are open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on election day.

Under the direction of the election supervisors, the members of the electoral boards first organise the voting process on election day. By 5.30 pm at the latest, all members of the electoral board will be back in the polling station to prepare and finally implement the determination of the results. After the end of the general voting time at 6.00 pm, the electoral board then determines the results in the respective electoral district. The operation is then completed.

Compensation:

Compensation for work on an electoral board is regulated in the "Statutes of the City of Chemnitz on the compensation of volunteer electoral assistants in elections and decisions" dated 29 August 2017. Accordingly, a so-called refreshment allowance is paid per election assignment for work on an election committee in accordance with the following overview.

Where and by when can election assistants register?
Anyone interested in supporting the elections by working on an election committee can register digitally via the registration form at www.chemnitz.de/wahlhelfer or via the declaration of willingness that can be downloaded there.

Notes on election deployment:
The electoral authority endeavours to deploy poll workers close to their place of residence. The deployed poll workers receive a letter of appointment approx. 6 weeks before the respective election date. This serves as proof of their activity as a poll worker. Even if no letter of appointment is initially received, support may still be required. The assignment can still be determined operationally until the Friday before election day.

The election supervisors and deputies also receive additional instruction on their tasks during a training session one to two weeks before the respective election. The exact dates will be communicated with the appointment letter. The scrutineers are instructed in their specific tasks and duties by the election supervisor on election day.

The electoral authority of the City of Chemnitz will answer any questions regarding the assignment on 0371 488-7473 or by email to wahlhelfer@stadt-chemnitz.de.