Today is another Election Day in Memphis, a run-off for five city council seats in districts 2,3,4,5 and 7. Even in smaller elections like this one, polls must be manned. That draws a dedicated group of workers year after year, many of whom do the job out of civic pride (and a little money.)
Margaret Brown says she was riding her bicycle in her neighborhood with her 6-month-old on a seat behind her. The mother, 32 at the time, met an election official who asked if Brown would be willing to work at a polling site on Election Day.
She agreed.
"The first precinct I worked in was in a bay of a fire station,” Brown says. “No air conditioning. Nothing."
Thirty-seven years later, she still stands at her assigned polling site every Election Day.
“I feel like that is what I need to do to support everybody's voting privilege,” she says.
They used to be called poll workers. But to avoid confusion with those campaign supporters who stand outside polling places, the title was changed to “election official.”
These workers check government issued photo IDs against the database of registered voters. They then issue the voters a micro-chipped card and show them which machine to use. After the vote, they give you an "I Voted" sticker and take back the card.
While the number of election officials varies depending on the size of the ballot, many of them have something in common besides a love of the democratic process – most are older, just like the voters they serve.
“The voters that choose to serve as election officials are typically 65 years old and older,” says Richard Holden, administrator of elections for the Shelby County Election Commission. “More than half of the election officials are senior citizens.”
Voters, he says, are of the same demographic. “More than half of the folks showing up to vote in any election are 55 years old and older,” Holden says.
There are only 14 people who work at the election commission, which makes it critical for people to step up and help on Election Day, especially when it’s a presidential election.
“We expand on election day to be one of the largest employers in the county where we have 2,000 people working for us,” Holden says.
Holden understands that two-income households, raising children and other things keep you busy. Still, he hopes younger people will join his core group of seniors. But his definition of "young" is relative.
“We’re talking about voters in the 35-year-old to 65-year-old demographic, not really people you might think of as young people,” he says.
There’s also a misconception that working on Election Day is a volunteer job. There is a paycheck at the end of the day.
“I think there are folks in our community that do agree to serve as election officials for the $30 they receive in training and the $100 they receive for serving on Election Day,” Holden says.
To become an election official in Shelby County, a person must be registered to vote, have voted in a primary election and take a three-hour training class. Election officials start their day at 6 a.m. by assembling the voting machines.
Even though election officials make $130 for both the training and a workday of more than 15 hours, most say they don't do it for the money. Whatever their personal reasons, elections officials are at the polls today, waiting for you to elect five people to serve on the Memphis City Council.
For more information on how to become an election official, you can fill out an application on shelbyvote.com
