The Independent View: Cincinnati's Partners in Democracy Program for Future Elections

Cincinnati's Hamilton County elections need your help. That’s the obvious takeaway from the County Board of Elections’ recent post-mortem of the snafu-filled Nov. 3, 2015, election.

The board found that 84 percent of its polling stations had problems on Election Day. Among other issues, many poll workers struggled with the setup for electronic poll site equipment. Some local high school seniors assisting at the polls played hero by dealing with electronic issues.

Hamilton County needs more poll workers comfortable with troubleshooting a wi-fi router connection. It takes about 2,600 workers to operate the county’s polls on Election Day, and while the Board of Election has done well making sure polling locations are staffed, it needs workers who are fluent in using technology.

A new program, “Partners in Democracy”, is proposed by the Board of Elections. The program and its founding idea, a “Day Off For Democracy”, have the potential to rejuvenate the county’s poll worker force, a crucial foundation for well-executed elections.

The program, and the current “Youth At The Booth” program, needs buy-in from leaders, of business, government and education. Both programs are crucial recruiting tools to ensure poll stations are tech savvy.

“The idea is, more and better people that we can have who are willing to work at polling locations on Election Day, the better our elections will be,” said Board of Elections member Chip Gerhardt.

Partners in Democracy

Alex Triantafilou, Hamilton County GOP Chairman and Board of Elections member, came up with the idea for Partners in Democracy about five years ago. Large companies commonly give back to their communities by supporting philanthropic efforts. Through this program, they could provide the same help to an important civic duty. Call it a Day Off For Democracy.

A Day Off For Democracy would work like this: A company would give Election Day off to its employees who commit to serving as poll workers. Employees would ideally receive their regular pay, although Board of Elections Chairman Tim Burke, who is also the Chair of the County's Democratic Party, said that would be up to the companies.

The employees would take the required training in advance, with night and weekend options available. On Election Day, the employees would help staff election locations, ensuring a robust supply of tech-savvy poll workers. In their hands poll workers hold the integrity of elections. Triantafilou floated his Day Off For Democracy idea about five years ago, but he admits it didn’t get much traction at the time.

The Board of Elections, in its review of this year’s General Election, stated it would seek to recruit two large companies and three government agencies to contribute poll workers in the March Primary election. Civic and volunteer groups would also be welcome to take on this opportunity, and it’s easy to imagine it being a good fit for young professional groups.

Philanthropic organizations could even benefit financially. Poll workers, who currently make between $161.50 and $206.50 for their time spent training, setting up poll sites and the long election day, could potentially donate the money to charitable organizations if they’re already getting paid by their employer.

Youth at the Booth

The Youth at the Booth program already exists, but it deserves to be expanded. During the Nov. 3, 2015 election, 125 high school seniors helped with the election and won rave reviews for their efforts.

“The fact of the matter is, a lot of our poll workers are older, they enjoy doing what they do a couple of times a year, and they’re doing a very valuable service,” said Tim Burke, Chairman of the Hamilton County Board of Elections.

The board wants to more than double the size of the program to 364 participants to help in the November 2016 Presidential election. Recruiting that many student would ensure one high school senior in every polling location.

Local high school administrators should look to the election as a prime opportunity for their students to play a key role in a historic day, an invaluable experience in civics.