Working the 2024 Presidential Election: A First-Person Account

This past November, I worked for 3 days as a Student Election Worker for the 2024 General Election. It was an eye-opening and enriching experience, as well as a great opportunity to see how our democratic process functions behind the scenes. 

I attended a training session with other election workers a few weeks before my first day. It was interesting to learn about our roles, including checking in voters, ensuring the voting machines were working properly, and so much more. There was a lot to absorb, but the election trainers were thorough in explaining everything from voter identification to the importance of maintaining impartiality throughout the day. 

Every day, I arrived an hour early at my local voting center to help set up. I was extremely nervous, but also excited to see community members come together to cast their votes. My main responsibilities were to check in voters, offer help with the voting machines, monitor the drop-off box for the vote-by-mail ballots, and last but not least, pass out the “I Voted” stickers. I also made sure to follow the rules about election security in order to keep a respectful environment.  

The days were long. I did have breaks and a little downtime, but it took much effort to make sure everything ran smoothly; I had a great team of workers to assist me. There were also constant checks to ensure no one was discouraged from voting, and that all votes were counted correctly. I worked alongside adults who were all so kind and helpful in answering any of my questions about the voting process, as it wasn’t the first time being an election worker for many of them. I also met two other student election workers who, like me, were serving for the first time. I loved seeing everyone’s passion for working in the election and it made me feel even more proud of my role.

Being a student election worker also gave me a deeper appreciation for the importance of voting. I interacted with people from all walks of life, and it was clear that for many, casting their ballot was a deeply meaningful act. What made me especially happy was seeing young people cast their ballots because young people need to stay engaged and informed about the political process. 

I hear people often say they feel their vote doesn’t matter, so they simply don’t vote. But after serving as an election worker, I can say in no uncertain terms that if you vote, your vote quite literally does count. At the end of every night, everyone serving with me at the polling place got together to count the number of ballots cast. In the combined days we served, there were over 800 cast ballots. We celebrated the people whose voices we helped get heard. 

In the end, I was tired, but fulfilled. I knew that I had played a small but crucial role in helping our community exercise their right to vote. I felt an unmistakable sense of accomplishment and a sense of purpose at having helped hundreds of people vote. It was a responsibility I didn’t take lightly, and it made me more committed to staying involved in future elections. 

I hope more people will serve as election workers so they too can experience the empowering feeling of participating in the electoral process and even make a little money along the way. So, if you can, get involved and apply to be an election worker. 

I promise you won’t regret it.