Poll Worker Recruiting

1. Poll Worker Recruiting

2. “Poll workers are the foundation upon which democracy rests…the cornerstone of democracy is the right to vote, but to be able to exercise that right there must be polling places and poll workers.” Victor Salazar, Fresno County Clerk, quoted in the Fresno Bee, April 21, 2006. • The Federal Election Commission estimates that 2 million poll workers are needed to run a national election, about half a million more than are available. • The average age of a poll worker in 72 (FEC). • During the 2004 election the US Election Assistance Commission estimated that for every 3 poll workers, only 2 showed up at their precinct.

3. 2004 Election * Source: USA TODAY, research

4. Percentage of National Association of Counties Members who indicate high/low levels of difficulty recruiting poll workers by size of county

5. How do Counties recruit poll workers? • Recruiting poll workers is an ongoing problem for election officials • According to a 2006 survey of members of the National Association of Counties (NACo), 56% of election officials reported that they were unable to fully staff the polls in 2004. • In addition, because of guidelines set forth in the 1965 Voting Rights Act, many jurisdictions require bilingual poll workers • Since the passage of the Help Americans Vote Act (HAVA) in 2002, which requires electronic voting machines, jurisdictions also need poll workers who are comfortable with technology • Traditionally poll workers were recruited either individually or through local political parties

6. Recruiting through intermediaries * Source: NACo Survey, Spring 2006

7. Poll Worker Recruitment in Texas • In Texas, voting precinct judges are nominated by the political parties • Each precinct is required to have a judge and an alternate judge • The judge represents the majority party of that precinct, the alternate judge represents the minority party • The election judge is then responsible for staffing the polling place with election clerks • This often results in most precincts having only one representative from the minority party • If no alternate judge is available, then the minority party may have no representation at the voting precinct • If the election judge can not fill the election clerk spots, they may request the county clerk to fill the vacancies • If the county clerk does not have enough volunteers, the polls remain understaffed

8. Help Americans Vote Act 2002 • In response to the controversies surrounding the 2000 presidential election, Congress passed the Help Americans Vote Act in 2002 (HAVA)

9. HAVA Summary • Authorized $325 million in payments for buyout of punchcard and lever voting machines, and another $325 million to improve election adminstration • Established the Election Assistance Commision to issue voluntary guidance to state and local election officials • Established rights for voters such as, provisional ballot, access to voting for the visually or auditory impaired, wheel chair access for machines, curb side voting, and translators • Established $5 million in grants for the recruitment of college students as non-partisan poll workers • Established a commission to recruit and educate high school students as poll workers • Contains provisions to improve the availabilty of ballots to military and overseas voters • Provides criminal penalties for election fraud

10. Examples of various poll worker recruitment tools • Outreach through media (either public announcements or paid ads) • Websites, flyers, and mass mailings • College student recruitment, often done through partnerships with institutions of higher learning who were HAVA grantees • Allowing split shifts • Using city and county employees • Partnerships with local businesses to provide employees for poll workers • Nebraska model - Omaha, NE drafted poll workers from registered voter rolls, much like a jury duty draft. A drafted person who fails to appear can be convicted of a class III misdeamnor