Your local board of elections wants you … to come help work the polls on Nov. 5. Poll workers and judges can make the difference on election day, keeping polls open and voters enfranchised.
Aug. 1 is National Poll Worker Recruitment Day, and local elections boards across the country — and across our region — are encouraging people to sign up for election day duties.
According to a 2022 Election Administration and Voting Survey (EAVS), 54% of jurisdictions had a “difficult” or “very difficult” time recruiting poll workers. The same data showed that the average poll worker is 61 and older.
Sam Novey, chief strategist for the University of Maryland’s Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement, said the goal of poll worker recruitment is, “Helping build systems that work every single election, every single time, no matter who’s running, to make sure that every Marylander and every American can have their voices heard.”
“We have thousands of polling places across the state. It takes tens of thousands of poll workers to make sure that they open on time,” he said.
While Aug. 1 may not seem like a date that will conjure thoughts of an upcoming election, Novey explained that elections boards are always working to make sure they are ready to train elections workers, and those training sessions will be held in the coming weeks and months.
“The sooner folks can apply, the sooner our counties can be sure that we’ve got a fully staffed, fully trained election day workforce,” Novey told WTOP.
Novey, who grew up in Baltimore, recalled his shock and disappointment when in 2006, a polling place was closed on Election Day because a chief judge didn’t show up.
“There was this whole line of people who couldn’t get into the polls, and they were upset and feeling disenfranchised,” he added. “That was something I never wanted to see again — to see people coming out to have their voices heard, being turned away because the poll wasn’t open.”
For more information on how to sign up to be an elections poll worker, click here.
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