MACON, Ga. — This election has some people asking questions about the vote count, so we took a closer look at poll workers, their training, and what's required of them by law.
The biggest thing to know is what poll workers must go through before they can handle a single vote. We spoke to Bibb County poll workers about what they do, how they're trained and the checks and balances in place.
Hilary Mitchell volunteered to be a poll worker for the first time this election.
"I'm a retired educator and I haven't been that engaged in American politics since I became a citizen," Mitchell said.
That was until now. She decided this year she wanted to do her part by being a poll worker. She says she went through the training before the election, from watching required video tutorials to learning the equipment.
"Everybody got the opportunity to use the actual equipment and ask questions along the way," Mitchell said.
Then, there's a manual over 100 pages long that poll workers need to read.
It explains things like election forms, voter IDs that are accepted, and also laws that all poll workers must abide by. One requirement that Mitchell and every other poll worker in Georgia must meet -- taking an oath.
They have to take the oath before even beginning to volunteer.
"The oath was about making sure we were doing due diligence when we were checking people in, that we were verifying the information, not only looking at the physical picture, but also the person standing in front of me," Mitchell said.
Macon-Bibb County Elections Officer Thomas Gillon says the oath requires workers "to preform their duties honestly and not prohibit anyone from voting who should be able to or allow someone to vote who should not be able to. And prepare accurate returns of how the election goes at the end of the day."
Macon-Bibb County Board of Elections sent WMAZ over a copy of the oath which requires workers to use their quote "best endeavors to prevent any fraud, deceit, or abuse."
Mitchell says this creates a system where every poll worker is a watchdog.
"It shows the method of selecting our government officials is held to a very high standard," Gillon said.
Gillon says for those that are raising questions about what a poll worker does or the count, he encourages them to learn more about the process and even volunteer to be poll workers themselves.
Mitchell says she learned more about the election process and how secure it was just by volunteering this election.