Guardians of Democracy ... Get to know the workers in the counting and counting of votes in the American elections

With the final results of the US presidential elections not completed in a number of swing states, and the demand for recounting and counting the votes of a number of them, a lot of attention is focused on workers in the counting and counting centers, about whom little is known.

These workers may decide the identity of the next US president, which underscores the importance of the great role that the employees and volunteers have in the counting and screening centers.

Broad role for provinces and states

Each state appoints thousands of volunteers weeks before the start of polling operations, and states independently run the entire election process and count and count the votes of their citizens, whether those who vote in person by attending the polling stations, or those who choose to vote by mail.

But with doubts swirling, state and local county officials within each state are working non-stop to ensure the counting ends fairly.

The states separately train workers and employees of the election process, and these workers are chosen from the local volunteers who reside within the provinces of the different states, and they are trained to read and classify ballot papers, ensure their validity and sort according to the choices of each voter.

And many of these workers do not receive money in some states, while others receive money to be free for several days for these tasks.

Any citizen of any state can apply to work in the volunteer teams who do the sorting and counting operations (Reuters)

In protecting democracy

These workers see themselves as citizens concerned with the fate of American democracy, "We are ordinary citizens who serve our region and our state without any regard for political party preferences," as one worker at an election center in Virginia said.

The worker assured Al-Jazeera Net that "the integrity of the counting process is much more important for us than the results trends, whatever they are. We are working hard so that the voters are confident that their votes will be properly prepared."

Each state plans early to manage the electoral process and open the door for those wishing to volunteer to work during the early voting period, leading to the general polling day and ending with the end of the counting and counting of votes and the announcement of results.

The rules of each state are different from others, but there is agreement that the first thing that is paid attention to when receiving ballot papers is to make sure that the voter is registered, and that he has not previously voted in these elections.

Some states require that the voter’s signature be verified and matched by the state’s authorities.

The provinces provide free food and drink, or a financial alternative to the cost of food and drink, for all counting workers.

The counting and counting takes place at the same polling stations in some states, and in other states the process takes place in central locations within the state's provinces.

A long and regular process

Votes are counted by special machines in which ballot papers are placed and sorted electronically, while postcard votes are sorted and counted by hand counting from two workers sitting next to each other around a table that also collects election judges appointed by the state authorities, to decide on the validity of the excluded cards, and that they are arrived at Pre-scheduled date.

The process begins with the workers receiving ballot envelopes, and then the counting and sorting workers begin to take measures to ensure that no ballot card or any card account is lost in a wrong way.

Each polling station director informs the results of the voting in his polling station to the district authorities, which in turn submit them to the state authorities.

Each state's county has tables of registered voters, and matches voter data with county data.

Polling station workers local volunteers receive training that takes two to five days (Getty Images)

Confident and competent

Among the most important factors for the success of the American electoral process is the availability of confidence in the counting and counting workers and the exclusion of any conspiracy among them to change the results of the vote, which is due to the carrying out of all steps of the process in transparency in the presence of other volunteers participating in all steps of the counting and sorting.

Polling station workers from local volunteers receive two to five days of training on the nature of work and the need to adhere to neutrality and professionalism.

In the various states, retired seniors and college students make up a large proportion of the sorting and counting workers.

Any citizen of any state can apply to serve on teams of volunteers who sort and count.