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It’s almost time for students to head back to school. And, sooner than you might think, it’s also going to be time for voters to head back to the polls. The Nov. 7 election, once some distant concept, is quickly coming into focus.
All elections are important, but for an “off” year without regular congressional or state legislative contests, this November’s election could still be particularly active. There will be a whopping eight referendum questions for Maine voters to decide.
Elections are also powered by an often underappreciated — and increasingly maligned — group of people. Volunteer poll workers help keep the wheels of democracy rolling. Their work around election day helps ensure that people across the state, and across the country, are able to exercise their right to vote.
Aug. 23 was National Poll Worker Recruitment Day, an effort amplified by the bipartisan U.S. Election Assistance Commission aiming to engage more people in the poll worker process. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, the state’s top election official, participated in that effort on Wednesday with a statement encouraging people to join the poll worker ranks for the Nov. 7 election.
“Serving as a poll worker is a great way for Mainers to be involved in their community in a meaningful way,” Bellows said. “Poll workers also get [a] firsthand look at the many checks and balances built into our election system here in Maine as we work to keep our elections safe, secure, accessible and accurate.
The Secretary of State’s office also provided a statement from Sue Clements-Dallaire, the city clerk in Auburn and president of the Maine Town and City Clerks Association.
“Municipalities throughout Maine often struggle to recruit a sufficient number of election workers with equal party representation. Poll workers are such a critical piece of the election process,” Clements-Dallaire said. “What better way to serve your community, to learn how our democratic process works, and to see firsthand all of the measures that are taken to ensure safe and secure elections in Maine.”
Despite the fortunate reality that Maine elections are both secure and accessible, some people have increasingly made unsubstantiated accusations related to the system’s integrity — and disparaged the volunteers who help make it run smoothly. In Maine and across the country, there have been alarming reports of threats and harassment against poll workers, town clerks and other election officials particularly following the 2020 election and former President Donald Trump’s f alse claims about that election.
This is totally backward. Poll workers deserve thanks, not derision. They should be appreciated, not made to feel unsafe.
So to anyone who wants democracy to be accessible, fair and secure: Be thankful that people are willing and able to volunteer as poll workers, and even better, consider being a poll worker yourself. As Bellows highlighted, it is a good way to better understand the process and all the safeguards in place.
After last November’s election, two professors in Maine wrote a column in the BDN about the essential role poll workers serve in American democracy. They discussed how these workers are both underappreciated and increasingly beset by election conspiracy theories, politicization, intimidation and threats against them.
“Yet without these poll workers, American democracy would quite literally break down,” professors Jordan LaBouff from the University of Maine and Carrie LeVan from Colby College wrote in late November of 2022. “While most of us pay close attention during presidential and midterm elections, there are more than 500,000 elected officials in the U.S. and a slew of referendums, budget initiatives and more decided via elections. This means tens of thousands of elections must be competently and transparently administered every year. And yet, we understand so little about the people behind these essential functions.”
There should be little doubt that these essential functions rely on the time and effort of volunteers who step up to do these jobs around the state. LaBouff and LeVan also worked with town clerks from Bangor, Fort Kent, Orono and Standish to survey more than 100 poll workers and gain more insight into the people volunteering in these roles and why they do so. One thing in particular that jumped out at us from those results was that over 75 percent of the respondents identified as women. So it sounds like more Maine men need to step up to the poll worker plate and support the administration of our elections.
Maine has seen some pretty impressive turnout numbers in recent elections. That reflects an engaged electorate, but it also reflects the dedication of poll workers. They help make the impressive turnout, and Maine elections in general, possible each year.