2024年11月5日星期二，华盛顿州伦顿，一名政治观察员在金县选举总部观看选举工作人员打开选票。(美联社照片/Lindsey Wasson)
2024年10月23日星期三，在位于亚利桑那州凤凰城的马里科帕县记录员办公室，观察员观看选举官员在计票首日前处理邮寄选票的过程。(美联社照片/Matt York）
#美国大选# 谁组织和计算选票？在美国，选举——甚至是联邦公职选举——都是由地方上负责组织。大选的安排和管理由成千上万的选务人员承担——他们通常是身为县市官员或职员的公务员。
选务人员的工作艰巨而复杂，其中包括：
✏ 确定选举的具体日期。
✏ 核实候选人资格。
✏ 登记合格选民，制定登记的选民名单。
✏ 选择投票设备。
✏ 设计选票。
✏ 组织大量临时工作人员为选举日的投票服务。
✏ 统计选票和核实结果。
选务人员必须让每一个希望投票的合格选民登记在册。他们还必须防止那些不合格的（通常是因为不够年龄或不住在选区）的人投票。一般而言，地方选务人员宁可把最近不曾有投票记录的人入册，也不愿误将合格选民排除。当姓名不在登记名册上的人来投票时，选务人员会发给他们一张临时选票，核实其投票资格后（通常要在选举日以后）再将其选票纳入统计结果。选务人员还必须为每一次选举设计选票。他们必须确保所有得到确认的候选人票上有名，并确定各个有待投票决定的议题在选票上得到准确陈述。他们必须设法做到让选票尽可能简单明了。全国没有统一规范的选票格式。但联邦法律规定，当一个行政区内一定比例的人口使用的主要语言不是英语时，选票必须采用多种语言。在投票机取代纸质投票的地方，地方选务人员负责选择投票设备及相关的保养。地方官员也必须招聘和培训大量临时工作人员，在选举日提供10至15小时的服务。
投票站选举工作人员必须相同对待所有合格的选民，不能表达自己的政治观点或鼓励选民支持特定候选人。他们还必须确保残障人士可以无障碍使用投票设施。
#US-General Election# Who organizes and counts the votes? In the United States, elections—even those for federal office—are conducted locally. Thousands of administrators—typically civil servants who are county or city officials or clerks—are responsible for organizing and conducting U.S. elections.
These administrators perform an important and complex set of tasks:
✏ Setting the exact dates for elections.
✏ Certifying the eligibility of candidates.
✏ Registering eligible voters and preparing
lists of registered voters.
✏ Selecting voting equipment.
✏ Designing ballots.
✏Organizing a large temporary workforce to administer the voting on Election Day.
✏ Tabulating the votes and certifying the results.
Election administrators must ensure that every eligible voter who wants to vote is on the registration list. They also must exclude from the list those who are unqualified (typically because they are too young or do not live in the jurisdiction). Generally, local election officials keep people on the lists even if they have not voted recently, rather than excluding potentially eligible voters. When someone not on the registration list appears at the polls, officials typically issue them a provisional ballot to record their votes. Only after that person’s eligibility is reviewed (this usually happens after Election Day) is the vote counted. Election administrators also have to design the ballots for each election. They must ensure that all certified candidates are listed and all issues up for decision are correctly worded. And they must try to make the ballot as simple and as clear as possible. There are no national standards for ballot forms, but federal law does require that administrators provide ballots in multiple languages when a percentage of the population in their jurisdiction does not speak English as a primary language. Where voting machines have replaced paper ballots, local administrators are responsible for selecting and maintaining them. And local officials also must recruit and train a large temporary staff to work 10 to 15 hours on Election Day
Election staff at polling places must offer the same access to all eligible voters, and cannot express their political opinions or encourage voters to support particular candidates. They must also ensure voting facilities are accessible to people with disabilities.
