Honoring MLK by volunteering as a poll worker
On Monday, many will remember the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and his life of service with service of their own by volunteering in their communities. In this election year, there’s a nationwide need for one particular kind of volunteer: poll workers.
About 1 million people typically step up to work the polls in a presidential election, said Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
But, as in many parts of this economy, there’s a labor shortage.
“Election officials around the country have told us over the last 15 years or so that about half of them have very substantial difficulties finding enough poll workers to serve,” Burden said.
And not just in the big November elections.
Olivia Zink, the executive director of Open Democracy in New Hampshire, is working on recruiting poll workers for the state’s presidential primary next week.
“So Nashua Ward 2 needs some people, Keen Ward 1 and 4 need people, the city of Franklin needs workers. The city of Manchester needs workers, the city of Portsmouth needs workers,” she said.
Zink celebrates volunteers who sometimes serve for decades, but warns that many are aging out. Advocacy groups nationwide are pushing for more young people to get involved.
Especially “folks who can speak multiple languages and who are tech-savvy to be able to get up to speed with election technology,” said Ryan Pierannunzi with the Fair Elections Center.
When there aren’t enough poll workers, it makes it a lot harder for people to vote, he said.
“Because the place they normally would go to might not be open because of staffing shortages or they might have to wait in line for a long time,” he explained.
And in a tightly contested election, that can depress voter turnout and voter confidence.
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