On August 16, Power the Polls – the first-of-its-kind, nonpartisan initiative for recruiting younger, more diverse poll workers – is supporting the Election Assistance Commission’s (EAC) Help America Vote Day by relaunching its own action: Poll Worker Recruitment Day. With the midterm elections fast approaching, the need to recruit and engage poll workers is increasingly urgent and essential to our democracy.
Across the country, election administrators are already reporting poll worker shortages. These shortages threaten access to the ballot box by leading to polling location closures and long lines, especially in communities of color and low income communities. In 2020, Power the Polls and its founding partners – Civic Alliance, Civic Responsibility Project, Comedy Central, Fair Elections Center, Pizza to the Polls, MTV Entertainment Group, and Center for Secure & Modern Elections – recruited over 250,000 potential poll workers during Poll Worker Recruitment Day alone, contributing to the more than 700,000 potential poll workers signed up by the effort over the course of the election cycle.
This year on Poll Worker Recruitment Day, Power the Polls is working with elections officials around the country and activating business, media, nonprofit partners, and influencers to make a concerted push to recruit new potential poll workers, including raising awareness and providing resources to increase applications in time for the midterms.
“Poll workers are the essential workers of our democracy, making sure the basic act of casting a ballot is available to anyone who wants to vote. In 2020, despite the pandemic, we were blown away by the hundreds of thousands of individuals who stepped up for their local communities and signed up to be poll workers. Now, we’re back to do it again in 2022—starting with Poll Worker Recruitment Day,” said Jane Slusser, Program Manager at Power the Polls. “Our work at Power the Polls is as important as ever to ensure every polling place is properly staffed with poll workers and open to voters for early voting and on Election Day. We are working around the clock with our partners to build momentum, cast a wide net, and engage a new generation of poll workers who will power elections for years to come.”
“Poll Worker Recruitment Day is a moment to come together in a collaborative effort to expand our reach to younger, more diverse audiences and move closer to our poll worker recruitment goals,” said Natalie Tran, Co-Founder of the Civic Alliance and Executive Director of the CAA Foundation. “This year, we are excited to continue working with our member companies to encourage employees to sign up to work as poll workers and be a part of the movement to ensure a safe and fair election for all.”
“At Fair Elections Center, we are connected to over 5,000 jurisdictions, and we work directly with local election administrators to understand where the needs lie in each community. Year after year, we know that there is always a need for more poll workers,” said Fair Elections Center President Robert Brandon. “In order to maintain accessibility for in-person voters, America needs more people to sign up to be poll workers. This year, our hope is that Poll Worker Recruitment Day will galvanize the same level of support from individuals in 2020 to sign up to be poll workers this November.”
“We are excited to once again use the loud bullhorn of our channels and social media platforms this upcoming Poll Worker Recruitment Day to call the next generation of younger and more diverse poll workers to action to help more Americans vote,” said Erika Soto Lamb, Vice President of Social Impact Strategy, MTV Entertainment Group. “Our country is best-served when we show up for one another—and signing up to be a poll worker this election season is one way to uphold our democracy and play an important role in your local community.”
“Power the Polls is driven by people who see how important poll workers are in our voting process and who want to get more involved,” said Ashley Spillane, founder of Civic Responsibility Project. “As we head into the midterms, we need to sign up a new generation of young, more diverse poll workers—people who are from the community they’re working the polls in. Our team at the Civic Responsibility Project is excited to re-energize everyone for Poll Worker Recruitment Day and ensure that polling sites around the country are appropriately staffed and ready for voters.”
Poll workers are critical to help maintain safe in-person voting for communities without reliable access to mail service, voters with disabilities, those who need language assistance, or for voters who simply want to cast their ballot in-person as they always have. The deadline and requirements to apply to be a poll worker varies by state.
This year, Vote Early Day is Friday, October 28 and the final midterm election day is Tuesday, November 8. To sign up to be a poll worker during the midterm election this year please visit www.powerthepolls.org/signup.
