Precinct Committeemen - What is it really? (voters, Congress, campaign)

[jambini]

I was asked to take a volunteer position as a precinct committemen. The election was yesterday and I won, so now what? The description seems so much different than what I've been told. Has anyone held this position?

[Smash255]

I had an opportunity to be involved with this a few years ago after being recommended by the staff of a Congressional campaign I was involved with the year before. However, I did not yet get to the point you are. I didn't want to commit to it because I was starting a new job around the same time and wasn't sure what my availability would be.

From my understanding a Precinct Committeemen will go around collecting signatures for candidates in your precinct, help with petitions. Also will help with registering new voters. A precinct captain can also act as basically an eyes and ears between the candidates and voters. You also could be involved with making sure people in your precinct get out to vote on Election Day. A precinct captain also gets to vote for county chairs and things along that nature.

Precincts can vary in size, some might only have a hundred voters, others may have a few thousand. Most are probably within a few hundred either way of 1,000. Precincts in large metropolitan areas are often entirely walkable (such as mine here on Long Island) meanwhile if you are in a rural area the precinct could be a few miles long.

[jambini]

That is pretty much spot on the official job description. Thanks for the response.