(Mods please move if this isn’t the right spot for this.)
I am nervous about the integrity of the election this November. It seems more and more likely to me that some will try to interfere with what is (at least IMO) the cornerstone of our democracy – fair and safe elections.
To that end I am asking you if at all possible to become an election worker in your community. Any attempts to subvert the electoral process will be made more difficult if polling places are adequately staffed. I’m concerned that finding election workers will be harder this year, given what happened to Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman in 2020 in Georgia.
Here’s a link to a compendium of the requirements to be an election worker in each state. You’ll have to check to determine who trains and assigns workers in your area and contact them. (In Illinois, this is done at the county level.)
I’ll be honest – if you live in a state where people vote at polling places, you’ll probably have a very long day. (In my county, set up starts at 5:00AM and tear down is usually done by 8:30PM, and election judges are required to be on site the entire time.) I’m not sure how it works in states where voting is 100% by mail, but I suspect they need help too.
I believe you’ll find your sacrifice to be well worth it. I know I do.
I already volunteered. Turns out they don’t need me as they are already fully staffed up – so gratifying to learn! (They asked me if I was interested in a different position with the Clerk Recorder’s Office, but I wasn’t.)
I agree – everyone who can should try to work an election!
I cannot work or volunteer in any election capacity as I am employed by PA county government. I tried to do this in the past. When I retire I will sign up.
It’s so interesting to me how different counties in different states run elections – which I consider one of the strengths of our election system. It’s extremely diverse, so it’s hard to mess with.
I was required to work elections when I was a county/court government employee in California.
That’s interesting. I had to sign some kind of Memorandum of Understanding stating that I would not work/volunteer in any kind of political capacity including elections. I tried to volunteer for the local Democratic committee in 2008 and this is when I discovered my employment prohibitions.
I work for child protective services which is state supervised and county administered. I can’t even imagine being required to work in that capacity in addition to my regular job.
I live in a deep red, rural area. A democrat stands a snowball’s chance in hell of getting elected for anything in my township. In the 32 years I’ve lived here, my township has consistently gone red, across all races by at least 60%. Usually it’s closer to 70-80%. There’s no reason for polling shenanigans as Republicans have it all locked up anyway.
The few democrats around here vote knowing our votes likely won’t matter. But there is still some satisfaction in cancelling out a like number of red votes.
Every Colorado County has Voter Service and Polling Centers where people can vote in person if they like (among other services). So poll workers are definitely needed.
I wonder if a side effect of Kamala Harris’s newfound excitement might be more people volunteering to be poll workers? We know we saw a surge in volunteers for her campaign. Maybe that applies to the polls as well?
We have all vote-by-mail here in Oregon and we do not have voting centers like some other all-vote-by-mail states do. Yet the county Elections Offices still have temporary workers for elections.
In this county, they hire a few dozen people to be on the Election Board. The board members are basically envelope openers. They have machines to slice open the envelopes and sort them by precinct, but they still need people to remove the ballots from the envelopes, then unfold and stack them so they can be run through the computer. Some of them also get posted at drop-off locations to facilitate the crush of last minute drop-offs. This was only for the last couple-three hours of the election; the drop-off locations otherwise were unmanned.
I did this for several years, including the 2016 general election. Four years ago I checked to see if they needed any more workers and the answer was “no”. I expect the same for this election.
When I retire, I might sign up to help with elections in my hometown.
I do live in a swing state (Georgia). My county generally goes about 70%-75% for Republicans.
The issue isn’t with the election itself. The election will be fine and straight forward. The issue will be whether or not Republicans in swing states will certify an election. That’s where shenanigans will occur.
I think in Georgia, if Kamala wins, we’re very likely to see Republicans refuse to certify due to “unspecified” reasons. I pray that I’m wrong. But that’s what I think will happen.
I don’t understand where working at the polls would constitute “election activity.” It’s straight up administrative/customer service work.
Here in Maryland we sign an oath to follow state laws in our duties, chief judges are there to guide us through the gray areas and the local full-time employees available by phone should things get really murky.
It’s only by happenstance during the day that you even learn which of your co-workers belong to which political party.
That’s my situation. I live in the red part of CA and though there’s no chance it won’t go to Dems, I just want to contribute and to be there to, I don’t know, keep an eye out like the OP says. Not sure specifically what I’d be able to do but it seems like the more concerned, politically aware people man the the polls, the better.
It wouldn’t surprise me at all, if for no other reason if it means more people feel less negatively about elections in general. I’ve been a poll worker in my red-to-purple county* of NJ for several elections now, but this is the first time I’m actively looking forward to it. (I’m really excited!)
(I say red-to-purple because it’s a blue Congressional district but the county itself is pretty red on the ground in local governments and state representation.)