Voting is one way to play a pivotal role in Florida's electoral process, and another way is by being a poll worker to help ensure elections are administered fairly, efficiently and according to law.

There is an ongoing need for election poll workers just like the people you have seen taking your ballots during the Aug. 23 primary elections.

Lanelle Phillmon, president of the Jacksonville/First Coast League of Women Voters, said from verifying someone is a registered voter to providing instructions on how to properly cast a vote, her experience as a poll worker is seeing how often county supervisors, including hers in Duval County, have to train and prepare each worker for the job.

"Even those of us who just worked on August 23, if we're going to be poll workers for early voting or Election Day in November, we will actually go through training once again," Phillmon explained. "Just want to make sure that anything that may have changed with Florida statutes or voting laws or election processes, that we're up-to-date on that."

Needs for staffing at the polls vary by county, so anyone interested can contact their supervisors of elections for applications to be a paid poll worker. Also, a coalition of businesses and nonprofits, launched the website powerthepolls.org to make it easier for anyone to sign up for accurate poll worker information across the country.

Phillmon pointed out for those skeptical about the elections process, being a poll worker is the best way to see for yourself, get trained and be able to share with friends and family firsthand about the integrity of the process.

"I would encourage them to not only attend a poll-worker training, but I would encourage them to come out and actually participate and become an election worker," Phillmon urged. "You really do get to see what it's like, what the process is, how the equipment is used, and you get to see the entire process, but you're seeing it from the inside out."

Poll workers are chosen to work a specific election by their availability, skills and willingness to travel. The number of poll workers for each election is typically determined by the size of the election and the expected voter turnout.

Standard duties of poll worker include being a clerk, who guides voters standing in line; a marshal, who calls for the opening and closing of polls; a poll inspector, who runs the polling location; and a judge, who provides backup support for the poll inspector.

A new law will make it easier for Washingtonians to register to vote online if they don't have a driver's license.

The law comes from a bill passed in 2023 that went into effect July 15, just in time for this year's primary election earlier this week. Under the new law, people can register to vote with the last four digits of their Social Security number and an uploaded photo of their signature.

Abigail Leong, communications manager for the Washington Voting Justice Coalition, said this gives greater access to voting for people who don't have licenses.

"The people least likely to have a Washington driver's license," she said, "are our young voters, Black and latino voters, people with low incomes, recent citizens, maybe people even just who recently moved and haven't switched their driver's license over."

Leong said online voter registration is becoming increasingly popular, and so this change helps the state prepare for that. The online registrations deadline to vote in the general election is Oct. 28. If Washingtonians miss that date, they can still register in person any time before 8 p.m. on election day, Nov. 5.

Jazmine Smith, political manager for The Washington Bus, a youth voting organization, said it's exciting to see the state of Washington continue to ensure more people can vote.

"We're adopting the technology we need," she said, "and making voter access as streamlined, easy and accessible as possible."

Leong said there are real-world benefits of accessible online voter registration. She noted one case in which a person with disabilities had moved recently and their new apartment wasn't getting them their mail.

"They had to register in person and at a site that wasn't accessible to people with mobility aides," she said, "and it was during COVID and they're immunocompromised, so it was extra hard for them. So, it's really helpful for people like that who might have no other way to register to vote without a lot of trouble."

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has introduced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.

The timing comes amid conversations about whether voters have a bigger appetite for less divisive politics. Analysts said policies deemed progressive Walz has signed into law, such as a 100% carbon-free electricity standard, are things likely to be debated in the campaign. He has also emphasized bolstering reproductive rights.

David Schultz, professor of political science at Hamline University, said those can get people motivated to vote, whether you are for or against such moves. Some voters say Walz also represents a sense of normalcy, and Schultz pointed out there are signs the electorate wants common ground.

"If you actually poll people on a variety of issues, whether it's gun safety, immigration, helping the poor and so forth, there's actually much broader consensus in America on a whole range of issues," Schultz observed.

Walz also signed a law making school lunches free for all students, regardless of income, a move that had bipartisan support. Like other political scientists, Schultz added at the end of the day, the vice presidential pick usually does not move the needle much in determining the race for the White House, with only a few high-profile examples in recent decades.

Steve Simon, Secretary of State, when asked what it means for leadership in Minnesota, said nothing changes for the time being. Walz is still allowed to be governor while campaigning for vice president. Minnesota has seen politicians such as Walter Mondale and Hubert Humphrey go on to serve as vice president but the logistics were a little different from what might happen with Walz.

"The other two Minnesotans who served as vice president did so as sitting United States senators, which didn't kick off any sort of state constitutional process like this at all," Simon recounted. "There were other succession issues but not succession issues like this."

If the Harris/Walz ticket wins this fall, Walz would have between the election and Inauguration Day to resign as governor. Lieutenant Gov. Peggy Flanagan would then become governor, making her the first Native American woman to hold such a seat. The Minnesota Senate president, Democrat Bobby Joe Champion, would then be elevated to the state's second-in-command post. That would create the need for a special election to fill his legislative seat.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.


get more stories like this via email

From education to the environment and immigration, proposals in the "Project 2025" document alarm many New Mexicans promoting a more equal society.

The Heritage Foundation document promotes conservative and right-wing policies to reshape the government under a second Donald Trump presidential term, including elimination of the U.S. Department of Education.

Whitney Holland, president of the American Federation of Teachers-New Mexico, said efforts made to boost student test scores in a diverse state like New Mexico could be erased if nearly all education is privatized as proposed.

"We know that educators, practitioners know education best," Holland asserted. "And so that alone is terrifying to me, to have these kinds of evaluation, assessment, policymaking decisions not housed by people who know education."

Trump has previously supported the idea of dismantling the Department of Education but has distanced himself from Project 2025 after some of its more extreme proposals came to light.

On immigration, the former president previously said if reelected, he would compel local police to enforce federal immigration law. Going still further, the Heritage Foundation has stated its goal to "have the biggest mass deportation system ever."

Wacira Maina, deputy director of communications for the group Organized Power in Numbers, represents many poor, working-class and people of color in Southwest communities.

"Many of them are immigrants or folks of mixed status, and they're terrified of how this could tear apart their family," Maina observed. "They fear it's only going to put a target on their back and on anyone who doesn't look 'American enough' in the eyes of whoever's enforcing the law."

As a former teacher, Holland believes New Mexico's future generations could be handicapped by far-right proposals in Project 2025.

"From their point of view, there's power in having an uneducated populace," Holland argued. "We're going to perpetuate the cycle of poverty. If we keep people uneducated, unable to get high-paying jobs and trapped in these systems that disenfranchise them at every turn."


get more stories like this via email