New Survey Finds People Excited to Serve as Poll Workers in Future Elections
Ahead of 2022 midterm elections, Power the Polls recruited more than 275,000 potential poll workers to ensure a safe and fair election
March 28, 2023 — Today, Power the Polls – the first-of-its-kind, nonpartisan initiative for recruiting a new wave of poll workers to help ensure safe, fair, and secure elections – is celebrating another successful year of poll worker recruitment by announcing it recruited more than 275,000 potential poll workers in the lead-up to the 2022 midterm election. A new survey of people who signed up through Power the Polls shows that 88% percent said they’d be interested in working in future elections.
"Power the Polls was created to address poll worker shortages and recruit poll workers who can help run safe and secure elections for years to come. In 2022, we connected nearly 300,000 potential poll workers with election administrators nationwide and supported nearly 600 jurisdictions across 42 states to fill poll worker shortages. Despite concerns about safety and poll worker issues on Election Day we did not see any widespread issues related to staffing at polling sites. 2022 was, in no uncertain terms, a success for poll worker recruitment,” said Ashley Spillane, Senior Advisor to Power the Polls and Director of the Civic Responsibility Project.
Power the Polls and its founding partners – Civic Alliance, Civic Responsibility Project, Comedy Central, Fair Elections Center, Pizza to the Polls, MTV Entertainment Group, and Center for Secure & Modern Elections – worked closely with over 400 nonprofit organizations and businesses to recruit younger, more diverse, and non-partisan potential poll workers to ensure that local elections officials' needs for poll workers are identified and met, particularly in these jurisdictions with high need.
Key findings of a new survey, conducted by Patinkin Research Strategies, of people who signed up through Power the Polls include:
- 88% expressed interest in working in future elections
- 85% of those who received local poll worker training felt prepared to serve during the election
- 86% believed that elections were run well in their community
- 61% served as poll workers during the 2022 general election, with 95% reporting satisfaction in their work
“The health of our democracy depends on election administrators and poll workers. In 2022, hundreds of thousands of people answered the call to staff the polls on Election Day – we are so proud to have helped Power the Polls deliver on its mission,” said Erika Soto Lamb, Vice President of Social Impact Strategy at MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks. “We remain committed to using our platform to activate potential poll workers – like driving more than 100,000 sign-ups after The Daily Show’s call-to-action in 2020. We look forward to continuing this work for elections to come.”
“The 2022 midterms should assuage any concerns that our election systems are not holding strong. Americans nationwide were able to safely and securely cast their ballots, due in no small part to the essential work of our election administrators and poll workers,” said Robert Brandon, President and CEO of Fair Elections Center. “We are so grateful for all of our election workers and are proud to have supported them this cycle. At Fair Elections Center, we’ve worked for years on building a better system for recruiting a new generation of diverse poll workers – and we’re thrilled to see that system work so well in 2022.”
“Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy, and the most basic part of that work is ensuring people are able to vote safely and securely. The Civic Alliance understands the power and responsibilities companies have in supporting our democratic institutions,” said Natalie Tran, Co-Founder of the Civic Alliance and Executive Director of the CAA Foundation. “One of the most important steps employers can take to encourage civic engagement is providing time off for employees to participate in our democracy – including serving as a poll worker. We were pleased to see that, of the Power the Polls sign-ups who completed our survey, more than half of those employed said that their employer offered time off to work the polls. As trusted brands and employers, companies are uniquely positioned to shape culture and drive participation in our democracy, and we’re glad our corporate partners used their power for good in 2022.”
Power the Polls was founded in 2020 to address concerns around a potential mass poll worker shortage due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the goal of recruiting a new wave of poll workers among younger, more diverse populations that have not historically filled these roles. While Power the Polls has made important strides through recruitment in 2020 and 2022, the initiative will continue to build on this work in future election cycles to ensure that poll workers adequately represent the communities they serve, including younger people, bilingual speakers, and communities of color.
To sign up to be a poll worker or learn more, please visit www.powerthepolls.org.