From voter to official: Davidson County residents answer Election Commission’s need for poll workers

Less than one week into this election’s early voting cycle, John Hite is up at 8 a.m., training a new flock of poll officials.

Hite is the staffing and training manager for the Davidson County Election Commission. Staffing polls is just one element of ensuring an election runs smoothly. But it’s an important one — and often difficult.

During early voting, there are 12 polling places that need daily staffing. And then on Election Day, there are 178.

After periods of staffing shortages, the Election Commission saw an influx of applications in 2020. Hite said this was like a “dream come true” for the commission.

More: Apply to be a poll official

But, those numbers were somewhat reliant on election “hype.”

“We have noticed that typically in elections where there seems to be less interest from the voters, we also see less interest from the poll officials,” Hite explained.

So, when the next election wasn’t a highly anticipated presidential race, numbers dropped. What’s more, many workers had been available because they were on furlough during the coronavirus lockdown. Suddenly, they returned to their jobs, and the Election Commission went back to recruiting.

But, elections prove to be a vital time for hiring new poll officials.

“A lot of times voters will go in, they’ll see someone they know working and that worker will say, ‘Hey, you should do this as well,’ ” Hite said. “We have these little business cards that we put out next to the ‘I Voted’ stickers at every location that, you know, try to capture attention.”

These efforts account for around 37% of the Election Commission’s recruiting each year. Multiple attendees of Hite’s training session learned of the opportunity this way.

Another official-in-training, Najaneiro Pullen, said that her voting experience inspired her to learn more.

“I want to see how the process works. It seems pretty simple when I go to vote, but I want to be inside, not outside of it,” Pullen said. “And I want to make sure everything goes correctly.”

And, for Pullen, the impending paycheck is just icing on top of the cake:

“I just wanted to give back to my country and I thought it was volunteer. Just so happens, I get paid!”

Early voting for the Davidson County mayoral and Metro Council runoff elections continues through Sept. 9. Election Day is Sept. 14.

Correction: This story initially misstated the number of polling places on Election Day. There are 178.