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By Sam Dolgin-Gardner 

CHICAGO—More than 2,000 college students recruited by People for the American Way acted as Polling Place Administrators in Chicago's recent municipal elections.  Recruited for their tech-savvy and natural affinity for computers, electronics, and gadgets, the students assisted election judges by setting up electronic voting machines, troubleshooting problems with the machines, and tabulating votes at the end of the day.

Chicago introduced electronic voting last year, using equipment manufactured by Sequoia Voting Systems. Chicago's voters are given a choice of marking a paper ballot that is then read and recorded by an optical scanner (like an SAT answer sheet), or using a touch-screen computer that prints a paper record of each voter's ballot.  Several hundred students were trained to provide voter assistance at the point that electronic machines were introduced.  Their performance convinced election officials to recruit thousands more for the recent election.

Despite the new technology, Chicago's elections ran smoothly.  Students were able to assist confused judges and voters, helping the oldest right of the republic enter the modern age.