Back when I was a science person, I spent a lot of happy hours in front of a fume hood, with the contents of an Erlenmeyer flask simmering noxiously over a Bunsen burner and a handwritten table of measurements patiently awaiting completion. I love the lab table almost as much as the dinner table.

I like to experiment, is what I’m saying. Part of my research into the Best Ways to Be Civically Engaged as a Normal, Justice-Oriented Person is…just…trying things that seem important, and letting you know how they go.

So, this week I signed up to be a poll worker! (Spoiler: I’m going to encourage you to do it, too, but mostly I’m going to tell you about the sticker I’ll get to wear.)

In the past couple of years, I’ve seen requests for election workers reach an almost hysterical pitch. As it turns out, it takes a lot of people to run elections in a country of 330 million! People like us, I suppose!

Miyazaki wants YOU to be a pollworker!

I did not want to work an election. But then I started thinking:

  • The one act of citizenship we ALL take seriously is voting. It’s crucial and fundamental.
  • Voting needs to be easy, accessible, and straightforward for as many people as possible.
  • Poll workers are normal citizens who volunteer to do administrative work for 15 hours on a Tuesday, for around $10/hour. The work is not glamorous or lucrative, but it’s essential.
  • Without enough poll workers, elections boards have to close polling places.
  • Fewer polling places means more people at each poll, which means longer lines, more potential for chaos, more difficulty voting.
  • I like and am good at: completing forms; chatting amiably with a stranger for under one (1) minute; maintaining a degree of order.
  • Pennsylvania’s primary election is on April 23. If I experiment with election work in the primary (and maybe recruit a couple of you to do it too) and report back, maybe more of us will feel comfortable working the general election in November. At least we’ll have a better sense of how the whole thing operates.

So I’m doing it!

It was easy.

  • I went to the website of my county elections office. (You could also sign up through a national org like Power the Polls.)
  • I entered my name, address, and birthday.
  • Within minutes I received an email assigning me to a polling place. It’s not my polling place, but it’s a 10-minute walk from my house.
  • At my leisure, I’ll attend an online training session (for which I’ll also be paid the big bucks).
  • I have been assigned the role of “Majority Clerk,” which I believe means I will get to wear a sticker that says “Majority Clerk.” My neighbor Joe is an election “Constable,” which is an inarguably cooler sticker. But I guess you have to start somewhere.
Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter image
Even Beyoncé probably didn't become a constable overnight.
  • (“Majority,” in this case, refers to the fact that I’m a registered Democrat. Moving to PA shot my political independence all to hell; here, you can only vote in primaries if you’re a member of the Democratic or Republican party, and since Pittsburgh is a heavily Democratic city where almost all elected officials are Democrats, you basically don’t have a voice in city elections if you’re not a registered Dem. I don’t love closed-primary systems, but that’s what we’ve got. I presume there will also be a Republican-registered Clerk, recognizable by her sticker.)
  • “Clerk” is the lowest-seniority title. Apparently in the 2020 general election (which many seasoned poll workers understandably sat out because of COVID), some lowest-level workers were suddenly promoted to the roles of Inspector or Judge of Elections. !!! TBH, this gave me pause. Too much responsibility!
  • But: I am a motivated, competent person who enjoys efficiently checking boxes. Is it a little worrisome that American democracy depends on a bunch of laypeople correctly completing forms? Yes! But also, there’s a big system of professionals who oversee and back up the work. I can do this.

Questions remaining:

  • Will I be bored? This is a FIFTEEN-HOUR shift, from 6 am to 9 pm. !!!
  • Alternatively: will there be threats of violence or skullduggery?
  • Also: will there be baked goods?
  • Will there be high-quality pens, or should I bring my own?
  • Bathrooms???

If your state’s primary is upcoming and you could make it work (perhaps with PTO and/or the help of a spouse or friend covering you on the home front), I encourage you to consider it…partly so that you and I can both report back to this group, and a bunch of us could feel comfortable doing it in November.

The stories! The new friends! The paperwork!! The democracy!!!

Have you done this before? If so, TELL US EVERYTHING (especially about the baked goods & the bathroom situation).

If not—would you think about it?

xoxo