Consultant: Michigan Nonpartisan Election Observation – County Coordinator – Election Standards

Consultant:
Michigan Nonpartisan Election Observation – County Coordinator About The Carter Center

The Carter Center is guided by a fundamental commitment to promoting human rights, alleviating human suffering, enhancing freedom and democracy, and improving health conditions. The Carter Center seeks highly qualified, motivated, and energetic consultants to serve as County Coordinators for its nonpartisan election observation efforts in Michigan.

The Democracy Program works globally to support and strengthen participatory democracy, consistent with human rights. Beginning in 2020, The Carter Center began efforts to support good election administration in the United States, including expanding nonpartisan observation, bolstering dispute resolution, tracking disinformation and dangerous speech, contributing to electoral reform and accessibility, and promoting principles for trusted elections.

In Michigan, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation and The Carter Center have announced a partnership to conduct nonpartisan election observation of the 2026 midterm elections. The Ford-Carter Election Observation Network (FCEON) will monitor critical stages of the election process and assess the quality of the elections to increase transparency and trust in Michigan’s elections. The initiative will train and support Michiganders to serve as nonpartisan election observers throughout the state to assess whether election laws and procedures are consistently and accurately followed.

Election observers will document how those procedures are implemented, impartially and accurately reporting what they see using structured forms and standardized observation tools. Their reports will be aggregated to provide a detailed, data-driven assessment about the integrity of elections in Michigan.

The project is seeking coordinators from:
Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw, Genesee, Ingham, Kent, Ottawa, Kalamazoo, Berrien, St. Joseph, Leelanau, Antrim, and Marquette

Period:
June 2026 to November 2026

Reporting to regional coordinators, the County Coordinator will:

• Observe electoral activities as needed, which could include: logic and accuracy testing (testing of election equipment), tabulation of election results, post-election audits and certification of election results in assigned county
• Act as a direct supervisor to observers, ensuring observers attend trainings, understand their role as observers, receive and utilize observation materials, and abide to an assigned Observer Code of Conduct
• Recruit election observers in the county in line with program directives
• Act as a liaison between FCEON and county election officials to obtain needed county-specific information (electoral procedures, dates/times for key processes, etc.)
• Liaise with in-state observation leads, an elections logistician and, as needed, Carter Center and Ford Presidential Foundation staff
• Travel to respective polling locations and support Election Day observation