What is a Precinct Committee Officer (“PCO”)?

Being a Precinct Committee Officer (“PCO”) is one of the most important roles in our Party. As a PCO, you are on the front lines of winning elections up and down the ballot. You are the main point of information and contact for voters in your neighborhood and within the Democratic Party — getting to know them, their family, and their priorities. You show up, listen, encourage them to vote, and make sure our Party reflects and represents their voices and values.

Now, more than ever, face-to-face conversations among neighbors have a critical role to play in fixing our politics and repairing our social fabric. 

As a PCO, you are a critical, personal link to civic life for your neighbors. As a Party, we believe that there is an incredible amount of power in building relationships, and you have the power to make a difference. PCOs get access to fantastic new tools to help them engage with their community more efficiently and effectively than ever before.

While grassroots engagement is the most frequent activity for PCOs, they are also the people who elect the officers of legislative district and county Party organizations, appoint people to fill vacancies in precinct leadership, and nominate candidates to fill vacancies in certain elected offices. As the ones who shape our Party from the ground up, PCOs are the foundation of the Democratic Party.

Elected PCOs, Appointed PCOs, and Precinct Coordinators

Beginning the first Monday of May in each even-numbered year, candidates file to run for public office — this includes candidates for Precinct Committee Officer! PCO candidates can file to run to serve the precinct in which they are registered to vote and, if they are the only one to file, are automatically elected. If multiple people file for the same precinct, their names appear on the Primary Election ballot for voters in their precinct. Once elected, a PCO’s term begins on December 1 of that year and ends two years later, on November 30 of the next even year. 

Because of this process, after the Primary Election in even years, legislative district organizations like ours know who their elected PCOs will be at the start of the term and can begin identifying people to appoint to fill vacancies. Like elected PCOs, appointed PCOs serve the precinct in which they are registered to vote and enjoy almost all of the same voting rights. Their term concludes with the end of the term for which they are appointed.

Separately, Precinct Coordinators are appointed to serve a vacant precinct in which they are not registered to vote. They serve their adopted precinct until the end of the two-year PCO term, or until an Appointed PCO is found for their adopted precinct, providing  the important link between the Democratic Party and the precinct they represent. To learn more, download the PCO Handbook using the button below or contact our Precinct Leadership Committee.