Call of Duty: Engaging Young People in Election Administration

• In Event: Electoral Engagement

Abstract

As election outcomes have become increasingly contested, as elites spread unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud, and as public trust in election outcomes are increasingly filtered through a partisan lens, election administration plays a central role in ensuring legitimacy of the electoral process. In this paper, I discuss how youth engagement in election administration can be linked to civic learning, civic agency and potential for increased participation and trust in elections.

Election Officers play a critical but often overlooked role in a representative democracy, serving on the front lines of election administration. The need for election officers increased in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the higher risks the coronavirus poses to older adults. In the 2018 general election, around six-in-ten U.S. poll workers (58%) were ages 61 and older, including roughly a quarter (27%) who were over 70 (Pew Research Center). As a result, young people, who are traditionally not as engaged in elections as their counterparts in older age demographics, had the opportunity to learn more about elections, election administration, representative democracy, while contributing to the broader public good in their communities.

In this paper, I share how recruiting and training young people to serve as Election Officers in the 2020, 2021 and 2022 Elections (through entirely virtual means during a pandemic) contributed to fostering mutually-beneficial and reciprocal community relationships, especially with local Directors of Elections and Electoral Boards. Findings also explore how recruiting and training young people to serve as Election Officers can be a means for building trust in electoral processes.

Author

• Carah Ong Whaley, Center for Politics at UVA