PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The courtyard at Philadelphia City Hall turned into a party on Tuesday as the City Commissioners celebrated National Poll Worker Recruitment Day.
The commissioners offered food, music and swag to attract people who might be willing to spend Election Day checking in voters, manning machines and answering questions for 12 or more hours. Shanek Copes was there to sign up.
“I know it’s a very important job and it’s a responsibility, a good responsibility, because it’s important for people to vote,” Copes said.
It was also a thank you for long-time poll workers such as Gwendolyn Clay, who’s been helping voters on Election Day for more than 60 years.
“This is something that I love doing and I take it seriously. It started with my mother. My mother was a poll worker,” she said, “so it’s always been in my blood.”
Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt, a former commissioner, came back for the festivities, and said election workers are worth celebrating.
“The most important people on Election Day are not the secretary of state or even the commissioners,” he said. “It’s your neighbors who show up to the polling place to work all day making sure democracy works the way that it should.”
Commissioner Seth Bluestein says the city had a good recruitment year. Officials set out to recruit 250 new poll workers for the semiquincentennial and has signed up more than 500 already. Almost 100 new poll workers signed up at the festival.
“Events like today’s help us recruit new poll workers and we’re going to continue doing that work all the way through Nov. 3to make sure the polls are fully-staffed,” he said.
