Young people in the United States are more invested in this year’s election than in years past, preliminary studies suggest. Not only are they turning out to vote, but they’re actively contributing to the process by knocking on doors for campaigns and volunteering as poll workers.
Some of this participation has been driven by corporations incentivizing their young employees to pitch in. Levi Strauss & Co., for example, gave its employees Election Day off as long as they agreed to serve as poll workers. Ashley Carlson, 33, a communications manager for the company, said she and nearly 200 of her young colleagues signed up. Other retailers contributing to this effort include Gap, Target, and Warby Parker.
“We knew that the pandemic was contributing to a nationwide shortage of poll workers, and we had employees ready and willing to volunteer,” Kelly McGinnis, the chief communications officer at Levi Strauss & Co., told the Wall Street Journal. “It was an obvious way that the company and our employees could offer help where it was needed.”
Their participation in the behind-the-scenes process has never been more important than it is now. The coronavirus has forced many older people to avoid in-person gatherings, and since the vast majority of poll workers are over the age of 60, there has been an inevitable shortage. Some states worried that these shortages could result in delays. But luckily, young people have stepped up.
In Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County, for example, election officials were able to recruit more than 6,500 poll workers to staff the county’s 1,323 polling places thanks to young volunteers, according to NPR. The challenge, however, was teaching these young first-timers how to run an efficient and reliable election. But according to newcomer Jane Hartung, voters needn’t worry.
“While I was at the poll-working class, I was with a bunch of people who were just like me — who were taking down notes, that were asking their questions, that were really invested in making sure the election was going to run smoothly,” she said. “That inspired a lot of confidence in me, because I felt like if I’m with a bunch of people who are just as detail-oriented as me, then this election — at least in Allegheny County — is going to run really smoothly.”
