Women and Democracy - Thoughts of a 2008 Election Poll Worker

Family Bibles used to bear witness to the cycles of a woman's life with notations on weddings, births, and divorces. Today, on Election Day, poll books and polling places serve a similar function.

I remember proudly registering to vote in my new neighborhood when my fiance and I bought our first house months before our wedding. When I went to vote in my new distrtict, the poll book bore my maiden name. One year later, as a shy newlywed still not used to being a Mrs., I signed the poll book adding his last name to mine with a hyphen. Fast forward three years and I cradled an infant in my arms as I voted. Two years later, I rocked another newborn as I maneuvered the first one in her stroller into the voting booth. By then I had dropped my hyphenated maiden name and simply used my husband's in the poll books.

Over the years, while my life shifted and my name evolved, the faces of the women who flipped through the poll books and worked at the polling place seemed to stay the same. Unaffected by the succession of elections, candidates and campaigns, they warmly greeted everyone who came in to vote, and during slow spells exchanged stories about mutual friends and life events.

My two babies have grown into teenagers, and now I've become one of the poll workers (or election inspectors as they're called in my home state.) Though I worked the presidential primary earlier this year, this is my first Election Day.

As I went through the training process to become a poll worker and looked around at a classroom of my peers, I wondered why the government and employers don't structure the system in a way that would allow more people my age to do this important work. According to the US Election Assistance Commission, the average age of a US poll worker was 72.

Although we are compensated for our time, the day is long (16 hours) and the pay is so low that it's regarded more as a volunteer opportunity than a job. That may explain why the majority of poll workers seem to be women.

Recent laws have been passed that allow poll workers to assist who are not registered voters in the community. This has opened the doors to younger poll workers in 29 states who bring valuable skills; comfortable with technology, they're often more adept at handling the computerized voting systems that are now being used at many voting sites.

Lines may be long at polling places today. Tempers may flare. Please be patient with us poll workers whether we're young enough to be your kids or old enough to be your grandparents. Together, we're implementing a basic right of democracy - the right to vote. And with your help, we intend to do it as accurately and as smoothly as possible.