It takes roughly 1 million people to power a federal Election Day, according to the nonpartisan poll worker registration organization Power the Polls. While more than 775,000 poll workers volunteered in the 2020 election and 644,000 lent their assistance to voters in 2022, a surge in new voter registrations this election season means that polling stations, which are already no strangers to staffing shortages, will likely require an increase in volunteers to administer and ensure safe and secure voting conditions this year.
Historically, poll workers have skewed older than the average American (the median age for a volunteer is 64 years old) and many of them have done this work for decades. In 2022, a biennial survey conducted by the Election Assistance Commission found that only about 15% of poll workers were newcomers, though that statistic varied widely across the country. A Pew Research Center survey reported that 58% of volunteers in the 2018 election were over the age of 61, while only 8% were younger than 25.
As a result of Trump’s false claims of voter fraud and cheating, election officials have faced death threats and other forms of abuse since November 2020 that stem from these unsubstantiated assertions, which have given some novice workers pause.
But that doesn’t mean they’re not signing up. Fast Company spoke with three first-time poll workers, two who are too young to vote, to learn more about what motivated them to volunteer this year in particular. These interviews have been edited for length and clarity.
‘Not being able to vote is my main motivation’
Molly Mcalvanah: 16, high school student volunteering in Montgomery County, Maryland
Montgomery County is a very politically engaged place in general, just because of our proximity to D.C. My dad works for the government, but I think just growing up next to the Hill makes you a little more interested in what’s happening on what’s basically your own front lawn. I’ve always just kind of been tuned in, but I think it’s only been in high school now where I’ve really been engaging in different political activities, especially with the election.
Most poll workers I know are actually high school students, so signing up was kind of a no-brainer for me. I worked for Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) this past summer, so I got to know a lot of kids who had worked the primaries and were going to do the general election. Volunteers are given a stipend, or they can use their hours to go towards Student Service Learning requirements. But I have all my hours already, so I chose the stipend.
I did an online training, which took me about an hour to complete. Then there was a really long questionnaire that I had to fill out afterwards—it had about 100 multiple choice questions—and if you score below a certain number, you’re kicked out of the program or something. The questions had to do with scenarios like what to do if a voter does not speak English, or if a voter is visually impaired. I passed, so I scheduled an in-person training for the weekend before Election Day.
We were also given a handbook to read through prior to taking the quiz, which had an entire section on what to do if there’s an active shooter. That was the only reference to political violence. It’s a scary thing to think about, and I absolutely thought about it when I was signing up. There’s been multiple assassination attempts on a former U.S. president in the past few months, and it definitely feels like a new era of political violence. You are required to put down an emergency contact when you sign up, so I put my mom, but I’m also not allowed to have my phone in the room with me. If there were an emergency, I guess I’d just try to access my phone and call my mom. I mean, I don’t have my license yet, so I wouldn’t be able to drive myself anywhere.
Not being able to vote is my main motivation for volunteering at the end of the day, because I missed the voting eligibility requirement by about a year. It’s frustrating, being so close to adulthood, and yet you can’t vote on the president that will be in office during your young adulthood. This is my way of doing what I can to help out, even if I won’t be able to cast a ballot.
I see a lot about youth voter apathy and how apparently kids my age are not as tuned in or involved in politics—that’s not what I have witnessed or experienced at all. If you’re in schools and on campuses, all these young Gen Zers want to get involved. They’re really tuned in and interested and eager to help out. They just don’t know how. I think it’s less apathy and more just like, this is a very confusing and complicated political climate.
‘I felt like I wasn’t in a position to make any difference’
Lauren, 26, ICU nursing assistant volunteering in Madison, Wisconsin
I was always kind of interested in politics, as was my family—especially my dad. But I felt more passionate about it when I moved to New York City for college, because I think I was surrounded by more people who had a little more world experience in that realm. I remember going to my first Women’s March with a bunch of my classmates, and that was huge for me.
Between between 2016 and 2020 I got pretty burnt out and just exasperated by it all. I just felt like, why should I even care? And I say that as someone who does care a lot. I felt like I wasn’t in a position to make any difference.
When I moved to Wisconsin about a year ago, my political interest started to grow. I think a big part of that has been living in such a pivotal swing state. I work as a nursing assistant in the ICU unit of a hospital, and a lot of the patients I see are from more Republican counties. I grew up in places where there was really only one political alliance, so interacting with people from different backgrounds sort of reignited my fascination with it all.
I’m really fascinated by how the electoral process actually works. I also am someone who really likes busy atmospheres and busy jobs—I work in a hospital. I still feel so lucky to be able to vote, and the idea of being able to see everyone who’s voting kind of makes me happy.
I don’t get the day off for work, so I had to request time off in advance, but I wish more people knew that it’s so easy to sign up to work the polls. I have a couple of friends in other states who were saying, “Oh, I should have done that.” Maybe I would have done this before, had I known how many people are needed.
I am extremely worried about harassment and violence. I have a lot of anxiety about mass violence. I think a lot of our generation can relate to that, growing up with shooting after shooting. I’m not really dealing with it. Part of me is like, “Okay, this is gonna be like exposure therapy for me.” I’ve been trying not to think about it.
‘It’s good for communities and the integrity of elections’
James McLaughlin: 16, high school student volunteering in Baltimore, Maryland
I’ve always been politically involved—even back in 2016, when I was only in third grade, I remember watching the debates between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. My dad’s an accountant and my mom does ice cream sales, so they’re always like, “I don’t even know how you happened.” They vote, but that’s as far as it goes for them.
Last January, I was notified through my email of this opportunity at this nonprofit in Baltimore City called Baltimore Votes. They were looking for students to serve on an advisory board to their Student Election Judge Program. Basically, we were a group of 10 students trying to get others to be election judges. I had no idea what I was getting into, but I knew that getting students involved is a great way to promote civic engagement. I have helped train at least 120 students this go-around.
I attended a roughly three hour mandatory Board of Elections training. They walk you through all of the different polling stations that you have to run on Election Day, and they offer just a general, “Here’s what you can’t do, here’s what you can do.” And they give you a book as well, because it’s a lot of information.
I think that’s something that’s been very intimidating to students—there’s just so much information. I know for a fact I don’t know it all. I know there are people that have done this for years that don’t know it all. But I know there’s gonna be really experienced chief judges, people that have been doing this for 20 years or so, and I know they’ll help guide me through it.
I go to Gilman High School, a private school, so we unfortunately don’t get the day off—private schools traditionally don’t serve as polling places. But I, along with a couple of other classmates, have been able to work it out with my teachers. They’re really happy that we’re volunteering. We just recently had an article out in the school newspaper about what we’ve been doing, so I think they’re really excited about us getting involved.
I’ve definitely heard from people about safety concerns, but I personally do not have any. I’ve always felt very safe when I’ve gone to polling places with my parents in the past. I know that Baltimore is going to take good care of us, and I know that we should just really be focused on having confidence in what we’re doing and being excited about our work.
Not being old enough to vote is honestly such a struggle. At the same time, I’m so excited about what I’m actually able to do, and I think that’s what’s most important for students to understand. While we can’t vote, there’s other ways that you can get involved, and there’s other ways that you can have a really big impact. There’s a great report I read from CIRCLE, a research institute at Tufts University, that says that students serving as election judges is good for communities, it’s good for the youth, and it’s good for the integrity of elections. And I think those three points have really guided a lot of what we’ve done at Baltimore Votes. By having students in polling places at a very young age, it’s going to increase the likelihood that they actually end up remaining civically engaged throughout the course of their life.
