Poll watchers: What role do they play in elections?

Poll watchers ready for Election Day

There will be poll watchers during the election. We take a closer look at who they are and how they are trained to do what they do.

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. - With a tense election season, party leaders say there has been an increase in poll watchers.

The unpaid volunteers are appointed and certified by parties to sit at polling locations to ensure the election process goes without problems.

“We’re in there to make sure there are no problems but we’re also in there to give confidence to the Republicans that the process is accurate,” said Tom Coriale, who represents the Republican Party of Volusia County.

Polling locations each have a spot for them to sit inside, though they can’t interact with voters.

“I can observe anything that’s going on. I can’t stand on the back of the voter,” explained Paul Weiss, representing the Democratic Party of Volusia County.

Both Weiss and Coriale credit their love for democracy for why they have been poll watchers for more than a decade.

“I’ve been poll watching for about 15 years,” said Coriale.

“Eighteen years,” said Weiss.

Both parties say while it’s never an issue to fill the positions, this election they’ve noticed more people wanting to help out.

“There’s more interest this election as you can see from what’s going on here,” said Weiss.

On the Republican side, Coriale credits a call from the president at one of his rallies.

“So we’ve had new people step up to help because of that call,” he said.

Though one red and one blue, both agree on one thing.

“Doesn’t matter if you're Republican or Democrat -- vote. Let's show the world what democracy is about,” said Weiss.

“The voting process is very important,” added Coriale.