Being a poll worker during elections has never been a glamorous job. And now, they have occasional threats of violence. Couple that with an aging workforce and you have a nationwide shortage of election monitors. Federal officials are working with local authorities to recruit and retain workers.
Ben Hovland is chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, which was created by Congress in 2002 to help local supervisors of elections.
He said more than half of all jurisdictions in the country are having a difficult time recruiting new workers.
One reason is that election workers are facing more threats of violence.
A national poll released in May said more than a third of local election officials have experienced threats, harassment or abuse.
His job is to get word out that local officials can help deal with these situations, and appeals to their support of democracy.
Here's our conversation with Hovland:
WUSF: Tell me about the Election Assistance Commission. I don't think a lot of people out there really know about this.
HOVLAND: So the U.S. Election Assistance Commission is a small federal agency. We were created by the Help America Vote Act of 2002, which was Congress' response to the Florida 2000 election.
And because elections are run at the state and local level all across the country, we were created to be an assistance agency or what I call a customer service agency. And that's supporting the local election officials who run our elections, from coast to coast.
So are the local election officials in charge of actually recruiting poll workers? What's your role in that?
It varies a little bit by the state. We've seen a lot of state election officials join in with recruitment. But one of the things are where National Poll Worker Recruitment Day really started was in 2020.
Of course, with the pandemic, we saw a lot of our traditional poll workers or veteran poll workers, who are often seniors who were not able to participate that year and not able to serve that year.
And we heard from election officials around the country, that they needed more poll workers. And so we created this civic holiday as a sort of day of action, to raise awareness about the need and importance of poll workers.
And we really saw a new generation step up that year and serve. And what we heard from election officials was that it it really was very helpful, and that they hoped we would keep doing it. So we did. And one of the things that we really learned through the process was how many Americans didn't know that this was something that they could do, they didn't know that this was a way they could participate or serve in their community, to help their friends and neighbors to cast ballots.
And so, again, one of the things that that we kept doing with this with the civic holiday is raising awareness that this is something that that just an average American can can take part in the process.
So give our listeners a feel for how critical the need is for poll workers. There been a lot of threats we've been hearing about it recently. I'm sure that's part of the reason why we're not seeing a lot more people come forward?
So the need really varies. And so one of the biggest things to do, certainly for anyone interested in getting more information, I'd encourage them to check out our website HelpAmericavote.gov. But, but at the end of the day, reaching out to your local election official. In Florida, your supervisor of elections is going to have that best information about what their needs are in your community. You mentioned some of the stories that have been out there. And those are unfortunate, and certainly, bad actors in those situations should be held accountable. But by and large, you know, that's the exception, not the rule.
"...certainly, bad actors in those situations should be held accountable. But by and large, you know, that's the exception, not the rule." - Ben Hovland
You know, I've served as a poll worker myself a number of times, and, and the experience that I've always had has been a tremendously rewarding one, you know, your ability to help folks when they get there, get them checked in, get them to the right place, and hand them that "I Voted" sticker and thank them for coming out. And that really is a great opportunity to be involved and be what I like to call the customer service face of our democracy.
Yet the perception is out there among many people that they might be it, maybe some kind of physical risk, if they do this job, some of the bad actors that you referred to out there, how do you allay their concerns?
I think a couple of things. First, we've seen a lot of great work at the state and local level, focused on things like de-escalation training, and just awareness and coordination, and working with local law enforcement if an unfortunate situation were to arise.
But the other thing I think, is, just by talking about a worker recruitment, or the need for poll workers, it's a reminder for everyone that that whole workers are your friends, they're your neighbors, they're people from your community.
Our elections are run locally. And so that person that you see at the polling place, that's not their full-time job. They're somebody that's serving their community, and they're there for the day, and just trying to do their part.
For November, we'll see almost a million Americans serve as poll workers across the country, and we couldn't run the elections without them. So it really is critical that people take a look at this and think about it and, and hopefully do their part and sign up. And again, having done a number of times myself, it is a very rewarding experience.
"For November, we'll see almost a million Americans serve as poll workers across the country, and we couldn't run the elections without them." - Ben Hovland
So give me your elevator speech, how you would get people involved in this. Do you appeal to their patriotism, to the greater good?
Well, certainly patriotism is a piece of it. When I think about my own experience, generally you're in a bipartisan team. But when you're in that polling place, it doesn't matter who, you know, who someone's there to vote for. You're that customer service, face of democracy.
And so I think about when I think about it, I think about the 18 year olds who I've seen come vote for the first time, and maybe they were a little nervous, and you helped them through the process. I think about the senior citizen who, who I knew had been voting longer than I had been alive and needed a little extra help now and you were able to provide that, and have them be proud that they were able to come out and make their voice heard.
And you have pride knowing that you did a small part to make people appreciate their right to vote and to exercise their right to vote. And the end of the day you can be proud of of helping your community but helping our democracy.
"And the end of the day you can be proud of of helping your community but helping our democracy." - Ben Hovland.
What exactly do you provide to local supervisors of elections? Have you given material support and encouragement?
The EAC has four primary functions as an agency. First, we distribute grant money from Congress. So periodically, Congress provides funds to improve federal elections. We test and certify voting equipment. We have something called the Election Administration and Voting Survey, which is the only national survey of its kind that looks across all the states and territories. And how Americans are engaging in the process, how they're getting registered. Is that at the DMV? Is that online? Is that in person? It looks at how they're participating. Are they voting by mail? Are they voting early in person? Are they voting on Election Day? And so we really get that snapshot of how Americans are participating.
And then finally, we have responsibility to be a clearinghouse of best practices on election administration. And that last one's probably the most big in the law.
But really, with each state running elections a little differently, it's an opportunity to look across the country, and identify those best practices, and share those with other election officials across the country. And Poll Worker Recruitment Day in many ways falls into that category. We've identified best practices, where jurisdictions have had some innovation or found particular ways that that are most effective.
But then for Poll Worker Recruitment Day itself, we obviously have the dedicated website with information. But then we also create a toolkit with various outreach tools, things like social media posts and images that can be used to help recruit poll workers.
And, again, just supporting them however we can, primarily raising awareness about the need and and the fact that this is a way that people can serve in their community.
