Online learning course announced for US poll workers

An online training course is to be launched for poll workers in the US state of Michigan to promote consistency across voting stations.The move was announced by secretary of state Ruth Johnson yesterday (October 25th) and is expected to improve the running of the elections process and maintain ballot confidentiality, East Village Magazine reports.According to Ms Johnson, the videos that are included in the digital learning programme have been created with help from representatives of authoritative bodies from around the state and will supplement regional efforts to enforce the practices.She was quoted as saying: "This was a way for us to assist local clerks and the state's nearly 30,000 precinct workers who have such a critical job on the front lines on election day."Topics covered in the e-learning initiative include the enforcement of Michigan's photo identification laws, the processing of challenged ballots and the important checks that must be made on election day, as well as how to seal the vote containers appropriately.Oakland County elections director Joe Rozell stated the collaboration between Ms Johnson and the local authority is strong."We're looking forward to incorporating [the videos] into our training programme," he added.The digital learning material has also been created to ensure no eligible citizens are refused the chance to vote on election day.Ms Johnson said alongside the videos, state election officials have worked long hours to help the local clerks with additional training ahead of the next presidential election year.Sessions and workshops were held in each of Michigan's 83 counties, covering election day issues and how to use the state's electronic poll records - the latter are now used in around 80 per cent of precincts.Online training for the purpose of a smooth election process has also been introduced in Venezuela, where a group of journalists were recently required to take a course on electoral laws and were advised on how to cover campaigns impartially.