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Mitch McConnell Attacks The Volunteer Backbone Of Elections
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)
In typical GOP fashion, McConnell will do everything possible to discourage and sabotage a faster and smoother voting process.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)
2/6/19
The country is in desperate need of more volunteer poll workers, who spend 14- to 15-hour days making sure people can exercise their right to vote. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is claiming Democrats’ effort to get more federal workers to help is actually a corrupt scheme to steal elections. The Democrats’ proposal is part of a major voting rights, campaign finance and ethics reform bill that McConnell has railed against for weeks. Along with making Election Day a federal holiday, the For The People Act would give federal workers up to six days off to train and work the polls for elections. “This is the Democrat plan to restore democracy?” McConnell asked. “A brand-new week of paid vacation for every federal employee who would like to hover around while you cast your ballot?” McConnell’s implication is clear: working the polls is an easy job that presents the opportunity for corrupt interference. In reality, poll workers are holding elections together. “Poll workers really ensure that our democracy can function appropriately,” said Aerion Abney, Pennsylvania state director for All Voting Is Local, a voting rights nonprofit. “And without poll workers, we can’t really hold elections,” he said.
That’s one of the reasons behind the poll workers provision in the legislation. Bipartisan federal election commissions and local election officials around the country have raised the alarm about persistent shortages of volunteers. These shortages lead to long lines and other problems for voters throughout the country. Nearly 65 percent of jurisdictions reported that it was either “very difficult” or “somewhat difficult” to attract volunteer poll workers, according to a 2016 report by the Election Assistance Commission. This problem was especially acute in the most populated jurisdictions, where 88 percent found it either very or somewhat difficult to recruit enough poll workers. The For The People Act provision would allow the federal Office of Personnel Management to write regulations “setting the terms and conditions” for federal workers taking paid leave to work the polls. The Hatch Act already bans federal workers from using their official position to influence elections. This provision is one of many that could reduce problems at polling places on Election Day, according to Abney, whose organization worked to fill a shortage of poll workers in Pennsylvania in 2018. In the meantime, elected officials like McConnell shouldn’t “discourage people from wanting to participate in the process,” Abney said. Instead, they should appreciate the volunteers that allow elections to happen. “We don’t give enough appreciation and value to poll workers and what they do to uphold our democracy,” he said.
In typical GOP fashion, McConnell will do everything possible to discourage and sabotage a faster and smoother voting process.