ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — The push for poll workers continues across the country and right here at home.
Allegheny County elections officials tell Channel 11 they still need about 3,700 workers to get where they want to be on November 8th.
“Since COVID, it’s been harder and harder to sign poll workers,” Elections Division Manager Dave Voye said.
Age is a factor. Most poll workers in the county are senior citizens, says Voye. There is an effort to inject young blood into the process.
“We have been reaching out to local high schools for younger. We’ve also visited all the local college campuses to try and recruit more college students,” Voye said.
He’s not the only one reaching out to a largely untapped population. Groups like “Vet The Vote” are also trying to fill those empty spots.
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“What better group who knows how to serve democracy and cares a lot about this country than veterans and military family members,” Vet the Vote founder Ellen Gustafson said.
The group was started just a few months ago with the goal of signing up 100,000 veterans and family members to serve as poll workers. She says they’ve passed the 60,000 mark.
“We knew that the population of veterans in America is almost 18 million. When you include families, you get way, way higher.”
The group has helped register around 2,000 people in Allegheny County after appearing at the Steelers home opener.
We also asked Voye about election safety. He tells Channel 11 there have been no threats and no significant security changes.
As a reminder, there is no early voting in Pennsylvania, but absentee ballots are set to go out soon. There is also something called “over the counter voting” where you can complete the absentee process while at the county office building.
Become an Allegheny County poll worker: https://www.alleghenycounty.us/elections/index.aspx
More on “Vet the Vote”: https://vetthe.vote/
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