Matthew Corritore, Intern, AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project
July 2, 2008
Election officials across the country are getting nervous. Turnout in the 2004 general election increased by 17 million from 2000, up to
122 million voters. Many states set primary turnout records this winter and spring, and given the sustained high levels of voter interest in the contest, more are likely to be broken in November as well. While a boon for democracy, the prospect of a record number of ballots cast this November has election officials worried that many polling places will be unable to handle the volume. Of particular concern is that localities will not be able to recruit enough poll workers to staff busy polling places, and that the advent of new voting technologies has necessitated time-consuming training for this already laborious and low-paying job. Many officials are looking to younger voters to pick up the slack and become poll workers.
Some Election Day foul-ups are familiar. Numerous recent elections have been accompanied by reports of
broken voting machines,
long lines, and
insufficient supplies of ballots. But the public often takes for granted that enough poll workers will be recruited from pools of registered voters to staff polling locations across the country. Poll workers perform many important tasks that ensure elections are administered smoothly; they set up voting equipment, check voters against registration roles, assist voters with sometimes complicated voting procedures, and close shop at the day's end. Their day is long, typically
14-16 hours not including training sessions, and compensation is low, on average about
$100. It is estimated that in upwards of
two million poll workers will be needed this Election Day to accommodate waves of energized voters.
Poll workers are important because they perform the basic tasks that allow people to cast their vote at polling places. But they are also crucial components of democracy at-large, as they profoundly affect voter confidence in the electoral process. An April 2008
study (PDF), for example, found that voters who thought their poll worker was of "excellent" quality were more likely to report confidence that the election was fair and that their vote was properly counted.
Not surprisingly, election officials are on their heels trying to recruit enough poll workers willing to work long hours for low pay to cover every polling place; the front-loaded primary calendar, for example, left some northeastern states, like
New Jersey, with shortages because their usual pool of retirees were spending the winters in warmer climates. The demographics of the typical poll worker are not on their side; while it varies by municipality, a study by political scientists Thad Hall, J. Quin Monson, and Kelly Patterson found that poll workers are generally older Americans, typically in their 50s, 60s, and 70s.
[1] Working the polls has developed into an effective civic duty for many seniors, but it is also clear that younger generations are not being recruited in adequate numbers to replace them.
Localities have increasingly taken various measures to prevent poll worker shortages. Vermont allows some of its workers to
split their shifts in half with other workers to alleviate the fatigue associated with the long day, a policy being considered by other states. Many states are increasing the scope of ad campaigns directed at businesses, nonprofits, churches, and government employees to recruit workers. Perhaps the most drastic measure takes place in Douglas County, Nebraska where a mandatory "
poll worker draft" is held to fill approximately 1,500 of the 2,500 workers the county needs on Election Day. It is unclear, however, how the public would react if such a system were implemented widely; the last thing needed is bored, uncooperative poll workers who may turn people off to the voting process.
Forty-plus (PDF) states now allow sixteen and seventeen-year-olds to serve as poll workers. Besides helping to replace a generation of aging poll workers, tapping the youth population also places more technologically adept workers at polls to set up equipment and assist voters with complex voting procedures. Similar efforts include development of a high school poll working
program (PDF) for high-achieving students who are awarded the opportunity to work on Election Day and earn money. Along the same lines, since the 2004 election, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission's
Help America Vote College Program has awarded grants to colleges and nonprofits to aid the recruitment of college poll workers. For Election Day 2008 recruitment drives, the Commission awarded $750,000 to 27 colleges and nonprofits from 18 states. The program is projected to supply an additional 8,800 college poll workers. While an encouraging start, such efforts would need to expand exponentially to meet the rising demand for more workers.
There is reason for hope. A whopping
6.5 million (PDF) young voters cast ballots during the 2008 primary season. But politically-active youth are generally attracted to partisan activities, such as working in the field getting out the vote for Obama or McCain. Perhaps they consider working the polls less rewarding or useful than traditional campaign work. But if a way could be found to channel some of the new youthful energy into nonpartisan activities, it might be a tremendous first step toward alleviating some of the brewing problems.
One key to increasing the supply of Election Day poll workers is to redefine the meaning of the job for youth; instead of a mundane civic duty, working the polls should be marketed as a way for young people to ensure today's highly-contested elections are conducted legally and fairly as part of a broader effort to secure the credibility of the democratic process.
Mobilize.org has recently launched a drive to recruit 500 poll workers under thirty years of age for Election Day 2008. But it is another organization,
Pollworkers for Democracy, that seeks to change the popular conception of poll workers. The group encourages poll workers to act not as passive administrators, but as watchdogs with a proactive concern for the democratic process, quickly reporting potential instances of technology problems, voter intimidation, even voter suppression. A similar marketing campaign directed at youth, perhaps coordinated by popular political groups on both sides of the ideological spectrum, such as MoveOn.org and the Young America's Foundation, might be a crucial step towards both addressing poll worker shortages and legitimizing the country's elections in the popular consciousness.
The time is ripe to aggressively engage young people as poll workers. HBO's television movie
Recount, a cynical portrayal of the 2000 Florida election debacle, has been playing frequently on that channel, reminding young people what can happen when election administration goes awry. With luck, getting young people to the polls not just as voters but as workers, will mitigate poll worker shortages and restore confidence in the electoral process.
Matthew Corritore can be reached at mcorritore@brookings.edu
Viewpoint is an occasional feature analyzing various election reform issues.