People are volunteering to be poll workers in record numbers in Philly and the suburbs
by Oona Goodin-Smith and Jonathan Lai, Posted: October 19, 2020
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Nationwide, pleas for poll workers have been desperate given fears of a coronavirus-driven shortage. Groups like Power the Polls have sponsored ads on social media and sent mass automated text messages, encouraging a younger generation to volunteer. Typically, poll workers tend to be older (58% in 2018 were over the age of 61, according to Pew Research Center), a population at greater risk from COVID-19. And leading up to a presidential election in a public health crisis, officials feared for the worst. But across Pennsylvania, the recruiting efforts have paid off.
In Philadelphia, more than 20,000 people answered the call for 8,500 poll worker positions, said Omar Sabir, one of the three city commissioners who run local elections. Bucks County received “several hundred more than needed,” according to county spokesperson Larry King. And polling places in Montgomery, Chester, and Delaware Counties will be well staffed, too, officials said.
“Amid the chaos and terrible things this year, this response has been a total bright spot,” said Lauren Cristella, chief advancement officer at the Committee of Seventy, a nonpartisan, good-government group. “It’s really heartwarming to see some people stepping up.”
But with the influx of volunteers, communication from the counties' already thinly spread election offices has been scant. Officials said there’s a chance that some people who volunteered just won’t hear back from them. “We’re grateful they applied, but we just don’t have the bandwidth to reach out to everybody,” said Delaware County Council member Christine Reuther.
https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/poll-workers-volunteers-philadelphia-suburbs-20201019.html
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