electionline Weekly

In Focus This Week

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College poll workers find difficulty working with local election officials, laws
Despite troubles, students buoyed by participating in democratic process

By Kat Zambon
electionline.org

Buffeted by nearly a million dollars in federal grants to help them recruit, train and retain young poll workers, some organizations around the country that took Help America Vote College Program money reported last week that it has been easier to find willing college students than navigate the complexities of local election law.

Established by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002, the program was intended to encourage students in higher education, including community colleges to serve state and local governments by working as poll workers or assistants and push governments to use the students’ services. To date, $927,000 has been distributed by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

Organizations that received grants last year have reported problems in implementation. Specifically, at some polling places, students are having difficulty working with local governments.

American University’s Center for Democracy and Election Management (CDEM) was awarded $16,000 to recruit 100 college students to serve in the District of Columbia. Dr. Robert Pastor, CDEM director found that DC poll workers need to be registered voters in the District in order to serve. However, student volunteers who were not DC registered voters were allowed to serve as “poll technicians” and help operate the voting machines.

After the 2006 election, Pastor wrote a letter to Alice Miller, D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics (BOEE) executive director expressing his interest in and concerns about working with them again to provide student poll workers. Pastor wrote that many students did not receive precinct assignments until less than a day before the election, too late to contact their precinct captains or make transportation arrangements.

“Some of our students were so upset that they told us that they would not serve this time or again,” he wrote.

Students were also not told that they were not allowed to leave the polling station for food. Pastor has reservations about working with D.C. BOEE again but he’d be interested in reapplying for the grant if it is offered again.

Despite these challenges, the program had a big impact on the students who served. Dan Orr, a student participant in the CDEM program said that serving as a poll technician was one “of the most interesting and rewarding experiences I’ve ever had.”

“I’ll hardly say that I am an expert on the workings of an election now, but just getting to see how democracy works behind the scenes is an experience I cherish and recommend to not only students but anyone who is able to make a commitment to ensuring that others’ right to vote is upheld,” he added.

In 2006, 19 grants in all were distributed to colleges and organizations ranging from $10,000 to the Hattiesburg Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta to $20,000 for the University of Texas at El Paso.

American University student Ashley Evans recalled several memorable voters that she met on election day, including an African American voter who had participated in the Freedom Rides and voted in every election and an elderly first time voter.

Evans explained that many of her peers are disenchanted about the political process. “After having been a poll worker and learning the technicalities of the voting process, it’s very difficult to continue to have such skepticism and distrust,” she said. Evans also said that she plans to serve as a poll worker again and hopes that the EAC continues the program.

However, Emily Conrad, who also attends AU and worked for the D.C. BOEE, was more measured when talking about her experience as a poll worker. Conrad went into election day feeling prepared until she arrived at her polling place and the other poll workers told her that she had missed a training held the day before the election about which she hadn’t been notified. The captain at her polling place was hostile and belittled her in front of the other poll workers, and since they had little experience with the voting machines, the poll workers discouraged voters from using the accessible equipment. Having worked at a nursing home, Conrad could tell that voters were having difficulty reading their ballots.

“It was frustrating to be so restricted in what I could tell them regarding their choices,” she said.

Despite her work environment, Conrad said the experience was rewarding when she saw how much casting a ballot meant to some voters, including a new American who broke down and cried “because they were so happy that they were getting to participate in the democratic process.”

Conrad said that she plans to serve as a poll worker again and would recommend the experience to others, “but my recommendation would be partly motivated by the fact that I feel more people need to understand what needs to be changed about the process.”

California State University – Long Beach received a grant of nearly $17,000 and ultimately almost 300 students served as poll workers on election day according to Brigette Young, Associated Students, Inc. development associate.  Students were recruited using the slogan “Friends Help Friends Become Poll Workers.”

But with less than a month before election day, the group learned that the student poll worker coordinator took another position, leaving students without a contact at the Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office and forcing them to call a general number to get their questions answered.

“It was an obstacle that we feel hindered the ability to effectively place students at polling locations around the County of Los Angeles,” Young said, though she would still be interested in participating in the program again in the future.

Amybeth Maurer, Director of Orientation and Student Life with the Student Life Department at Elgin Community College had a positive experience working with Kane County, Ill. election officials in 2006 but this year, election officials won’t answer her calls or emails. 

“Last year I worked very closely with the election manager and that makes all the difference,” she said.

In August, the EAC released “A Guidebook for Recruiting College Poll Workers,” along with “Successful Practices for Poll Worker Recruitment, Training and Retention,” two books of best practices to help election officials recruit, train and retain poll workers.

“The need for trained poll workers is more urgent than ever, and we hope these guidebooks will help election officials find and keep good poll workers as well as recruit a new generation of poll workers,” Donetta Davidson, EAC chair said. All six EAC guides to best practices in election administration are available online.