For most Evanston residents, election day is just another Tuesday. Some will stop by the polls during lunch breaks or after work to cast their ballots. Others voted early or by mail.

But for Hannah Feiner, a second-year Ph.D. student in communication sciences and disorders, election day will start at 4:30 a.m.

Feiner is one of several thousand election judges in Cook County for this year’s general election. She will be setting up election equipment, verifying voter qualifications and maintaining order at the polling station for about 16 hours on election day.

“I signed up to be an election judge because I’ve been looking for ways to contribute to the election and to participate in our democratic process,” Feiner said. “It is so fragile and needs young people especially to be engaged.”

Feiner said this is her first time volunteering as an election judge. She signed up through an application designed specifically for students and completed six hours of online training for the position.

Feiner, who is fluent in Spanish, said she hopes her bilingualism will also be helpful in assisting Spanish-speaking voters.

Any registered voter and current resident of the county can apply to become an election judge, according to the Cook County Clerk’s Office. High school juniors and seniors, as well as college students, who are U.S. citizens and have at least a 3.0 GPA also qualify and work alongside adult judges.

Sue Brenner, a member of the League of Women Voters of Evanston, a nonpartisan organization that promotes voting rights and voter education, began serving as an election judge 20 years ago.

“It’s interesting to see how the voting machines have changed,” Brenner said. “When I started, you poked holes in paper with a pen. Now, we’ve gotten both paper and electronic ballots.”

Brenner said the most rewarding parts of being an election judge include assisting people from her community and seeing students voting for the first time.

Steve Lemieux-Jordan, an Evanston resident, has been working at the early voting poll in the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center for two weeks before election day. 

He has served as an election judge for more than a decade.

“It is important to make sure that the elections are free and fair, and people get to vote,” Lemieux-Jordan said. “It is a way of honoring the lives of those who died so that we can (vote), and that’s very important to me.”

Lemieux-Jordan said he appreciates the collaborative nature of the job. Of the 16 election judges at the polling station, some have more experience than others, Lemieux-Jordan said. But there are opportunities for new judges to learn by doing. 

Brenner said her hope for Tuesday’s general election is that everything will run smoothly.

“I hope we have a huge turnout across the country,” Brenner said. “Because the best thing and the most important thing you can do as a citizen is to vote.”

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @caseeey_he

Related Stories:

— Turnout unclear at Evanston’s upcoming midterm elections

— Cook County residents take on volunteer work to coordinate local elections

— Evanston poll workers, polling places express confidence in coronavirus precautions ahead of Tuesday’s election