Election Administration in the Spotlight

Given the mounting recognition of the importance of good election administration, it comes as no surprise that election administrators, most of them volunteer pollworkers,  are in the news spotlight. Georgia reports having 15,000 pollworkers statewide, with an average age of 72.  The huge turnout is causing many of them to put in 16 hour days, during which some report feeling guilty even taking short breaks.  With the extension of early voting in some counties in North Carolina, some poll workers feel unnecessarily overburdened.  This is why some states are still trying to recruit additional pollworkers, and are currently conducting “emergency pollworker training”.

State and county election administrators are working equally hard, while being subject to political backlash.  Ohio Secretary of State Brunner (D) has been often (though vaguely) accused of partisanship.  Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel (R) has been accused of partisan voter fraud for not extending voting hours like NC and FL did.  If it is a close race on Tuesday, we can only expect these accusations to grow in intensity.

Inés and Janell