Precinct workers key to successful elections

MORE often than not, Oklahoma’s voting precincts are staffed by retirees — people who have the time, and the willingness, to spend an election day signing in voters and distributing ballots. But why should this be the norm?

As The Oklahoman’s Ben Felder noted in a story Sunday, state Election Board officials are concerned about precinct manpower, particularly the fact that it’s aging.

For the Nov. 6 election, 6,340 people manned the state’s 1,951 precincts. Of that total, 3,184 — a sliver over 50 percent — were 71 years of age or older. Another 2,091 precinct workers (33 percent) were ages 61-70.

That means only 12 percent of precinct workers were 60 or younger.

Workers must be at least 18, and on Nov. 6 the state had 43 who were in the 18-25 age group. Each precinct must have a minimum of three workers — an inspector, a judge and a clerk — who are paid $85 to $95. They also must complete a six-hour training session.

That last piece can be a problem. Felder interviewed a Tulsa woman for whom this was the case. Danica Whitman, 34, said she had hoped to work at a polling site because, “It seemed like a fun, nonpartisan way to be more involved in the political process and I was always noticing that there were never any poll workers my age when I went to vote.” Yet she wasn’t able to secure childcare to attend the training.

The state Election Board sets the curriculum for training, but each county’s election board determines when training is held. Perhaps there is a way in some counties for Saturday sessions to become part of the process.

For major elections such as governor and president, working at polling sites may be something to consider for the thousands of school teachers who get Election Day off. In order to allow their teachers and staff time to vote in the governor’s race this year, the school boards in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Muskogee, Woodward and several other districts voted to close school. Having done so once, it’s unlikely those districts will reverse course in the future.

Other civic-minded Oklahomans could always consider scheduling a vacation day and working at the polls on occasion. However, there may be as many as 11 elections in some years — everything from school board to municipal elections to general elections. “The real challenge is finding people who are willing not just to work once but who can commit to working multiple elections year,” says Paul Ziriax, state Election Board secretary.

The state needs willing, dependable people to work its elections and complement the outstanding performance of Oklahoma’s voting machines. Again this year, our elections came and went with only a few hiccups, while other states reported any number of headaches. The success here is due largely to the fact all 77 Oklahoma counties use the same optical scanning machines, and the machines have proven to work well.

Ziriax says of precinct workers, “Regardless of their age, thank God we have people who are committed, because quite frankly, it’s often thankless. But we could not have our representative form of government without them.”

Oklahoma gets its elections right. A new stable of citizens willing to man the precincts on election days will help ensure this continues.