Become a poll worker
Researchers conducted exit polls in two Ohio counties on Election Day 2006. That election was the first in which new electronic voting machines were used there, similar to the transition Utah voters recently made. The researchers found that people tended to be most critical of poll workers if they had to wait a long time, if the polling place was hard to find or if they felt they had little privacy when casting a ballot.
They also found a correlation between voters' confidence in new electronic machines and their feelings about poll workers. A well-trained, confident poll worker usually resulted in a voter who felt confident that his or her ballot would count.
This probably doesn't come as news to county clerks in Utah, who spend a great deal of time recruiting and training poll workers. But it does bring a renewed focus to the importance of that process.
Salt Lake County has a program that attempts to recruit businesses and service organizations to provide these workers. The presence of younger, tech-savvy poll workers undoubtedly would help boost voter confidence in the system.
The recent primary election in Utah had such a pitiful turnout that it offered few real challenges to poll workers. It did, however, provide evidence of the short-sighted nature of a June primary. County clerks had trouble finding poll workers because many people were on vacation. The same could be said for voters, themselves.
November will be much different. Utah's turnout could be as high as 80 percent of registered voters. All the more reason for able-minded people to step forward now and offer their services.
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edit | July 6, 2008 at 5:42 a.m.
