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Sign in, then choose Polling Locations. The 2026 General Election is the only election taking sign-ups at the moment, so you go straight to it. Pick early voting or Election Day, then your polling place. If that place has more than one day, use Which day? at the top so you are not scrolling every shift at once. Press "Take poll watcher" on the shift you want. It is yours the moment you press it, and that row then says you are the poll watcher, with a Cancel this shift button. The backup slot beside it stays greyed out until someone has taken the poll watcher slot. A backup stands in for a poll watcher, so there has to be one first.

The Election Day list has a City menu and a search box at the top. Choose your city, or type the name of the place, a street, or your precinct number. The list narrows as you type, and it tells you how many of the locations still match. There is also a tick box, "Only show locations with openings". Either way the places are grouped under their city. Early voting is only ten sites, so that list is short enough to scroll. New early voting sign-ups are closed, and that list says Closed instead of how many slots look open.

It opens once somebody has taken the poll watcher slot on that shift. A backup stands in if the poll watcher cannot make it, so there has to be a poll watcher to stand in for — and while we are recruiting, an empty shift needs a poll watcher far more than it needs a substitute. Hover the greyed-out box and it will tell you the same thing. Once you do hold a backup slot: do not attend unless you are called in. Florida law allows each party only one poll watcher inside a polling room at a time, so the backup is a substitute rather than a second observer. Be ready to step in if the poll watcher cannot make it, arrives late, or has to leave, and check with them before the shift; if you are not sure who to ask, Doug Matthews is our Poll Watcher Captain and his email is on the Instructions page. Your reminder emails for a backup shift start with "[Backup]" in the subject line so you can tell them apart at a glance.

Go to My Shifts and press Cancel shift next to the shift. It asks "Give up this shift?" Press "Yes, cancel" and the slot goes straight back on the board for someone else, so please do it as early as you can. You can also do it from the polling place's own page, where your slot says you are the poll watcher and offers Cancel this shift. If it is the day of the shift, contact your backup directly as well and let Doug Matthews know.

Yes. We email you a week before, two days before, and again the day before every shift you hold. Each reminder gives the date and hours, the polling place and its address, whether you are the poll watcher or the backup, and which election it is for. It also tells you to bring photo ID and the identification badge issued to you by the Supervisor of Elections, and it has a button that opens My Shifts.

On the Sign In page choose "Forgot your password?" and enter the email address you registered with. The email that comes back reminds you of your username and gives you a link to choose a new password. That link works once and expires after two hours. Saving the new password takes you straight to your shifts and signs out any other device you were signed in on.

Your username and password are not set on the registration form — you choose them from the link in the confirmation email we send you, and that link lasts seven days. Look for that email and check your spam folder. If it has gone, use "Forgot your password?" with the same address and we will send a fresh setup link; submitting the registration form again with the same email does the same thing. Once you have set the username and password you are signed in straight away and taken to the polling locations. If nothing arrives after a few minutes, email chairman@polkgop.org or call (863) 473-9325.

Florida law requires your name to be filed in writing with the Supervisor of Elections before you may serve, so claiming a shift here is not by itself permission to walk in. The party does that filing for you. What you have to do is be registered on this site in time for us to submit your name, which is shown on the Register page and on the election's own page. For the 2026 General Election, early voting watcher designations closed Oct. 5, and new early voting sign-ups are closed. Election Day sign-ups close Monday, Oct. 19. The legal filing deadlines are noon on October 5 and noon on October 20. Both the poll watcher and the backup are filed, so either of you may lawfully serve.

Recruit precinct Managers within a city, mostly through email and phone calling. It is optional — tick the box on the registration form if you want to help.

Recruit poll watchers for a group of relatively contiguous precincts nearest you, mostly through email and phone calling. It is optional — tick the box on the registration form if you want to help.

As many as you can cover — different days, different locations, early voting and Election Day. Each shift has two slots, poll watcher and backup, and they are held by two different people, so on any one shift you take one slot or the other. Everything you have claimed is listed on My Shifts, with the upcoming ones first and past ones below.

An organizer can take a shift off your schedule, and the email is there so you do not find out on the day. It is usually a scheduling change rather than anything you did. You will stop getting reminders for that shift, and you are welcome to claim another one straight away. If it looks wrong, use the "Contact us" button in that email and we will sort it out.