TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON, N.J. — At a Hillsdale polling place last November, Mia Moreta-Perez greeted voters at the tablet station and helped older residents check in. A year later, that’s the part the Westwood Regional High School senior remembers best.
“It just filled my heart up with so much joy and love,” Moreta-Perez said in a statement shared by the district. “It’s a day to remember.”
This fall, more than 80 students at Westwood Regional completed poll worker training ahead of the Nov. 3 general election. It’s the third consecutive year the school, which serves Westwood and the Township of Washington, has partnered with the Bergen County Board of Elections to prepare students for paid, nonpartisan work at the polls.
An experienced election worker led the two-hour training session Sept. 30 at the high school. Most participants were juniors and seniors. One sophomore also completed the training.
In 2025, about 80 Westwood Regional students attended the school’s first fall training session, and the county scheduled a second session for others who had signed up. Countywide, more than 500 students from 25 high schools signed up to work that year’s general election, Bergen County Board of Elections Chairman Richard L. Miller told Pascack Press reporter Michael Olohan at the time. Miller said it was a record for the county program.
For this year’s election, the district said, students ages 16 and 17 can work one of two shifts, from 5:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. or from 12:30 to 8:30 p.m. Students 18 and older can work the full day.
Moreta-Perez, who is considering a career in criminal justice, said she would like to work the polls again in 2027 if she’s in New Jersey.
— Via Lori Perlow