[EL] Essay on being a first-time poll worker

[Jon Sherman]

Thanks for writing that, Doug. Many jurisdictions do scramble to find poll
workers even this late in the game. Fair Elections Legal Network, the
University of Minnesota's Election Academy and Development Seed developed
this website to facilitate poll worker recruitment:

https://www.workelections.com/

It's still early stages so it only covers 7 states: Arizona, California,
Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio and Virginia. If you have connections in
these states, please circulate this resource for people looking for an easy
way to apply. It links applicants directly to their local jurisdictions'
info and applications. If the jurisdiction doesn't have an application
online (either one that is submitted by mail after printing or submitted
electronically), we've created a standardized application that is emailed
to the local jurisdiction. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Best,
Jon


On Thu, Oct 20, 2016 at 12:27 PM, Douglas Johnson <djohnson at ndcresearch.com>
wrote:

> This article unfortunately uses the attention-grabbing ‘hook’ in the
> headline and first paragraph, but the heart of the column is much more
> about the hands-on experience of a poll worker in California. Hopefully it
> inspires others to be willing to spend a day in service to democracy.
>
>
>
> Amidst all the vitriol and anger of this campaign (and on this list
> lately, unfortunately), I thought this might be a refreshing positive note
> about how everyday people are the backbone of our election system:
>
>
>
> http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2016/08/19/take-poll-
> worker-system-isnt-rigged/ideas/nexus/
>
>
>
> A snippet:
>
> “As I reevaluated the experience, I realized it didn’t matter that we
> weren’t the dignified bearers of democracy I had envisioned: the system had
> worked. On the day I worked, some 9 million people voted. Many were given
> provisional ballots, either because they had lost or never received their
> mail-in ballot or because they didn’t appear on the voter rolls. While some
> claimed those votes were ignored, the reality is that they were assiduously
> counted in a thorough process that took weeks to complete. Although they
> called the primary before every vote was accounted for, officials
> continued to count the ballots
> <http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/06/29/us/california-today-presidential-primary-vote-count.html?_r=0&referer=http://www.nytimes.com/section/us?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&region=TopBar&module=HPMiniNav&contentCollection=U.S.&WT.nav=page>,
> ensuring that every provisional and mail-in ballot was recognized and that
> no one voted twice.”
>
>
>
> If you know anyone thinking of volunteering, or anyone thinking of being
> an angry poll watcher, perhaps pass this along to inspire them to be a poll
> worker. While it’s likely too late to sign up for this year, as most on
> this list know, we need hundreds of thousands of them every election.
>
>
>
> -          Doug
>
>
>
> Douglas Johnson, Ph.D.
>
> Fellow, Rose Institute of State and Local Government
>
> at Claremont McKenna College
>
> douglas.johnson at cmc.edu
>
> direct: 310-200-2058
>
>
>
>
>
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>



-- 
Jon Sherman
Counsel
Fair Elections Legal Network <http://www.fairelectionsnetwork.com/>*
1825 K Street NW, Suite 450
Washington, D.C. 20006
Phone: (202) 248-5346
jsherman at fairelectionsnetwork.com
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*The contents of this email should not be construed as legal advice.
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