On a Tuesday in June when I was 16 years old, I woke up at 5:30 a.m, got dressed and drove to my local polling place. I had a very important job to do and it was not voting. I was serving as a Marin County poll worker.
I hadn’t known it was possible to be a poll worker before I was eligible to vote. In the aftermath of the 2016 election, I had searched for ways to get involved in campaigns, political organizations and my county government. But I was ignored, left and right, because I was not a part of the voting population. Participating politically, in any form, felt inaccessible until somebody emailed me the student poll-worker application.
To apply for a poll-worker position, you must be a permanent legal resident of the United States and at least 18 years old — unless you are a high school senior 16 years old or older.
When I first walked into the polling place, I was met by a friendly group of older (mostly retired) people who genuinely assumed I was in the wrong place. I was the only poll worker under the age of 50 in the room.
Once the initial shock wore off, many praised me for serving. This praise, while well-intentioned, made me uncomfortable. After all, why should it be surprising for teenagers to serve their community?
I didn’t understand why my classmates didn’t apply to be poll workers. After all, the work is fairly simple, incredibly important, well paid, has long breaks, is an excused absence from school and all of the people serving as poll workers are kind and fun.
Now, two years later, the nation is in the middle of a pandemic, an economic depression and facing a critical point in its history. It is time for my generation to step up and serve as poll workers.
While this year all registered voters in California will be mailed ballots, polling places will need to stay open to help voters with disabilities, give assistance in other languages, answer questions about mail-in ballots and to provide provisional ballots.
Widespread concerns around the Trump administration’s efforts to hobble the U.S. Postal Service may drive more voters to vote in person. I have read reports that California (along with 45 other states) has been warned that mailed ballots may not be received in time to be counted. Uncertainty levels are raised, even though officials are making plans to address concerns.
Other recent reports mention that more than 100,000 mail-in ballots from the March primary were rejected by California election officials due to mistakes, the most common of which was missing the deadline.
Record numbers of residents will vote by mail, but many others will want to do so in person.
The coronavirus pandemic raises concerns about groups at polling places. In an effort to reduce the number of people in a polling place at one time, for the first time in Marin (and many other California counties), in-person early voting will be offered the three days before Election Day. The polls are open Oct. 31 through Nov. 2. The demand for workers is higher than ever.
Based on our current understanding of COVID-19, the age range most often found serving at the polls is also the most at risk for the virus. We need teenagers to step up and take their places. In the age of remote school, asynchronous learning and early in-person voting on weekends, serving as a poll worker has never been easier for students.
In recent primary elections, states like Kentucky were forced to close polling locations for the lack of poll workers. Don’t force your county leadership to do the same, be a poll worker. Recruit your classmates, friends, and family — 16 or older — if they don’t have the underlying conditions that make the coronavirus particularly dangerous to them. I hope you’ll join me.
For more information on becoming a Marin County Poll Worker, visit marincounty.org/depts/rv/poll-workers/become-a-poll-worker
Avery Schoen, of Tiburon, is a freshman at Mount Holyoke College studying remotely in Marin and Team Leader at Students for Justice – A Reclaim Our Vote Initiative.
