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
Across the state, huge numbers of Pennsylvanians — many of them younger and first-time poll workers — have enlisted to check in voters on Election Day, set up voting machines, and troubleshoot problems. So many thousands of applicants have signed up in Philadelphia and its suburban counties that elections officials are in the unusual position of having a surplus. Elections officials have long worried about the ability to staff the polls during elections, describing the shortage of poll workers as a crisis and trying to find new sources of workers. But this year, the number of volunteers is staggering, and officials are racing just to keep up.
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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.”
https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/poll-workers-volunteers-philadelphia-suburbs-20201019.html 
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