Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Democracy has no off-years

Democracy has no off-years

Clark County Election Department poll workers check people in at a table as people vote at the Meadows Mall on November 08, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Spillane serves as Senior Advisor to Power the Polls and Director of the Civic Responsibility Project.

As our country celebrates Women’s History Month and looks ahead to local elections this fall, it’s important for us to celebrate the everyday heroines in communities across the country who are the essential workers of our democracy: poll workers.


In recent years, new challenges have tested these workers—from the COVID-19 pandemic to concerns around the threat of violence—but poll workers have continued to show up and ensure that everyone in their communities has an opportunity to make their voice heard in our democracy.

I know how critical their work is through my role at Power the Polls, a nonpartisan initiative that was founded early in the COVID-19 pandemic to recruit more poll workers. Ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, Power the Polls recruited over 275,000 potential poll workers and coordinated with Secretaries of State and local elections officials from both sides of the aisle to fill anticipated gaps in local municipalities. Over half of the people who raised their hands to work the polls were women. Although the next election on many people’s minds isn’t until 2024, critical local elections are taking place this year, and we can’t slow down efforts to invest in and strengthen our democratic infrastructure, including recruiting more poll workers.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

In June of 2020, we launched Power the Polls to respond to the widespread concerns over a potential poll worker shortage due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We set out to recruit a new generation of younger, more diverse poll workers to ensure that every polling site was adequately staffed and to build a future where poll workers reflect the communities they serve.

Ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, many feared a potential poll worker shortage for a different reason: threats to poll workers, like this one in Georgia, after the 2020 election. Yet people—especially women—stepped up. In fact, polling places across the U.S. are overwhelmingly overseen by women. Despite initial concerns, the 2022 election ran smoothly, thanks in part to the hard work and dedication of poll workers.

Not only have these new poll workers pushed through challenges in recent years, but they also overwhelmingly found their experience to be rewarding and have expressed excitement about working again in the future. 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. Additionally, 95 percent of survey respondents reported satisfaction in their work.

The 2020 and 2022 elections have shown us how critical poll workers are to keeping our democracy running—and we need to make sure we continue to recruit a new generation of poll workers for elections to come, including women, young people, people of color, and others who have historically been underrepresented among poll workers.

Poll workers are the essential workers of our democracy. Every year, we rely on the time and energy of poll workers in our local communities to staff elections. While we’ve made progress in recruiting a new wave of younger poll workers, the average age of poll workers remains over 60. In some states, poll workers can serve as young as 16, and we’ve seen teens sign up through Power the Polls to serve their communities before they can even cast their own ballots, setting them up for a lifetime of civic engagement.

While important strides have been made through our recruitment, we all must do more in future election cycles to ensure that poll workers better reflect the communities they serve, including across age, race, and gender. Between now and 2024, Power the Polls will continue this work. We will support election officials managing local elections, and we will continue to promote civic engagement, voting, and serving as a poll worker as lifelong commitments—not just something for big election years.

Women’s History Month is an exciting time to uplift the contributions of women—and a reminder that we can, and should, be celebrating women’s contributions throughout the rest of the year as well. Similarly, promoting civic engagement isn’t just for big election years. There may be years with fewer elections, yes, but our commitment to supporting election administrators, recruiting poll workers, and building a thriving democracy must be ongoing and steadfast.

Read More

"Voter Here" sign outside of a polling location.

"Voter Here" sign outside of a polling location.

Getty Images, Grace Cary

Stopping the Descent Toward Banana Republic Elections

President Trump’s election-related executive order begins by pointing out practices in Canada, Sweden, Brazil, and elsewhere that outperform the U.S. But it is Trump’s order itself that really demonstrates how far we’ve fallen behind. In none of the countries mentioned, or any other major democracy in the world, would the head of government change election rules by decree, as Trump has tried to do.

Trump is the leader of a political party that will fight for control of Congress in 2026, an election sure to be close, and important to his presidency. The leader of one side in such a competition has no business unilaterally changing its rules—that’s why executive decrees changing elections only happen in tinpot dictatorships, not democracies.

Keep ReadingShow less
hundred dollar bills.
Getty Images, boonchai wedmakawand

Congress Bill Spotlight: Donald J. Trump $250 Bill Act

The Fulcrum introduces Congress Bill Spotlight, a weekly report by Jesse Rifkin, focusing on the noteworthy legislation of the thousands introduced in Congress. Rifkin has written about Congress for years, and now he's dissecting the most interesting bills you need to know about but that often don't get the right news coverage.

Trump reportedly tips his Mar-a-Lago groundskeepers with $100 bills. What if his own face appeared on them?

Keep ReadingShow less
Introducing The Expand Democracy 5

Introducing The Expand Democracy 5

In March, Rob Richie and Eveline Dowling launched a new Expand Democracy publication: The Expand Democracy 5. Each week they lift up five stories connected to their core belief: if democracy is not expanding, it is shrinking. They’re on the lookout for informative articles and timely news associated with a pro-democracy proposal that they believe warrants greater public awareness, often with links allowing readers to go deeper and connect with those advancing the idea.

In keeping with The Fulcrum’s mission to share ideas that help to repair our democracy and make it live and work in our everyday lives, we intend to publish The Expand Democracy 5 in The Fulcrum each Friday, beginning today.

Keep ReadingShow less
Defining the Democracy Movement: Karissa Raskin
- YouTube

Defining the Democracy Movement: Karissa Raskin

The Fulcrum presents The Path Forward: Defining the Democracy Reform Movement. Scott Warren's interview series engages diverse thought leaders to elevate the conversation about building a thriving and healthy democratic republic that fulfills its potential as a national social and political game-changer. This initiative is the start of focused collaborations and dialogue led by The Bridge Alliance and The Fulcrum teams to help the movement find a path forward.

Karissa Raskin is the new CEO of the Listen First Project, a coalition of over 500 nationwide organizations dedicated to bridging differences. The coalition aims to increase social cohesion across American society and serves as a way for bridging organizations to compare notes, share resources, and collaborate broadly. Karissa, who is based in Jacksonville, served as the Director of Coalition Engagement for a number of years before assuming the CEO role this February.

Keep ReadingShow less