Maryland election officials struggling to find Republican election judges

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. - Early voting in Maryland begins in three days as county officials in the state are trying to find Republicans to help serve as election judges. In a state with an imbalance between Democrats and Republicans, it’s not been an easy job. 

In Maryland, Democrats have a two-to-one advantage over Republicans in the state, so putting together bipartisan teams of election judges has been a challenge.

The election judges help settle questions if there’s a problem with a ballot. 

Stacy Sauter, vice chair of the Montgomery County GOP tells FOX 5 that they’ve been trying to encourage more Republicans to serve as election judges. They’ve held meet and greets, they’ve held information sessions but still, it’s an uphill effort in heavily Democratic Maryland.

"It is critical to the well-functioning of our democracy and to me it's right up there with jury duty and I feel like people really need to seriously," Sauter said. "It’s not a gigantic time commitment."

RELATED: 2024 Presidential Election in Maryland: How to vote, voter registration, what's on the ballot & more

So why does this matter? Under Maryland law, local boards of elections must try to staff polling places with an equal number of judges who are both registered Democrats and Republicans. 

In Montgomery County, they’ve hired nearly 4,000 poll workers to staff the 2024 election but Dr. Gilberto Zelaya of the Board of Elections says they are still looking for Republicans.

"We run bipartisan elections. We want bipartisan teams to run non-partisan elections so at the end of the day three are checks and balances. There’s a chain of command. There are policies and procedures," Zelaya said. 

If you are interested in being an election judge, contact the county where you live.  You’ll be paid and there is training before you start.  Early voting begins Oct. 24 and continues until Oct. 31. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.