Poll Workers: The People of Elections
OCTOBER 2007
Poll Workers: The People of Elections
Nearly two million Americans serve as poll workers each election, and administrators across the country face a range of challenges in recruiting, training, and retaining them. Both electionline.org and the Committee on House Administration have examined the issue, and the EAC has released best practices for use by local officials.
Featured Resources
Estimates put the number of poll workers needed for the 2008 election at nearly two million. This analysis explores the ways that a variety of jurisdictions address the challenges of recruiting, training, and retaining these workers.
This essay lays out an argument for the use of "Election Contest Law Audits" as a mechanism for easing the resolution of disputes over the outcome of elections.
In this analysis piece, Dan Tokaji argues that Congress--whose primary election reform-related attention is focused on the paper trail debate--should instead be focusing on issues like ID requirements and statewide voter registration databases.
In this analysis, the Election Reform Project's Jessica Leval describes administrative problems--both ones encountered as a individual voter, and ones that affected the city as a whole--in the recent District of Columbia primary.
Research Projects
Election Law @ Moritz, run through Moritz College of Law at the Ohio State University, contains both explanation and commentary on a wealth of election reform issues from a legal perspective.
Part of the Institute for Governmental Studies at the University of California at Berkeley, the Election Administration Research Center (EARC) aims to improve the administration of elections.
Electionline.org provides daily news updates on election reform issues, as well as deeper analysis of selected topics, including recent reports on voter registration, recount procedures, and the progress in implementing the Help America Vote Act since 2002.
As part of its broader research focus on elections, campaign ethics, campaign finance, and the legislative process, the Center for American Politics and Citizenship at the University of Maryland is engaged in research projects on voting technology and ballot design specifically.
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
www.aei.org
The Brookings Institution
www.brookings.edu
© Copyright 2006, AEI
and The Brookings Institution