Election officials in Maryland are having difficulty finding Republican election judges

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Maryland – Early voting in Maryland begins in three days as county officials in the state try to find Republicans to serve as election judges. In a state with an imbalance between Democrats and Republicans, that was no easy task.

In Maryland, Democrats have a two-to-one advantage over Republicans in the state, so assembling bipartisan teams of election judges has been a challenge.

Election judges will help clarify questions if there are problems with a ballot.

Stacy Sauter, vice chair of the Montgomery County GOP, tells FOX 5 they have been trying to encourage more Republicans to serve as election judges. They've held meet and greets, they've held information sessions, but still it's an arduous task in heavily Democratic Maryland.

“It's critically important to the functioning of our democracy and to me it's on par with jury duty and I feel like people should take it really seriously,” Sauter said. “It’s not a gigantic time commitment.”

RELATED: Maryland's 2024 presidential election: How to vote, voter registration, what's on the ballot and more

So why does this matter? Under Maryland law, local election boards must try to staff polling places with an equal number of judges who are both registered Democrats and Republicans.

In Montgomery County, they have hired nearly 4,000 poll workers to staff the 2024 election, but Dr. Gilberto Zelaya of the Election Commission says they are still looking for Republicans.

“We conduct non-partisan elections. We want nonpartisan teams to run nonpartisan elections, so at the end of day three it's about checks and balances. There is a chain of command. There are policies and procedures in place,” Zelaya said.

If you are interested in becoming an election judge, contact the county where you live. You get paid and there is training before you start. Early voting begins October 24th and runs through October 31st. Polling stations are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m