Panel cites poll workers' age as problem
By Jim Drinkard, USA TODAY  09 August 2004
WASHINGTON — The biggest threat to November's presidential election is not balky voting machines or a terrorist attack, but the potential for confusion and mistakes by the nation's aging corps of 1.5 million precinct poll workers, federal election officials say.

The current corps of poll workers is well short of the 2 million needed for a national election. The average age of a U.S. poll worker is 72, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

"If they don't get it right, someone could be denied their opportunity to vote," says Paul DeGregorio, one of four members of the commission. The panel was created by Congress in 2002 to make sure federal elections run smoothly. Already this year, problems have cropped up during primary elections, he notes.

In addition, the Help America Vote Act of 2002 has imposed new procedures for elections, including ID requirements for first-time voters who registered by mail and provisional ballots for voters not immediately found on voter rolls.

"There's a growing complexity at the polling place," says DeForest Soaries, the commission chairman. "If all we do in November is what we did in 2000, that's going to be a problem."

To help minimize voting glitches in November, the commission today is issuing an online "tool kit" that offers advice on how to recruit and train the people who staff America's 193,000 polling places. The kit includes pointers on how to design ballots, maintain voting equipment and conduct ballot recounts (www.eac.gov).

It is the first time the federal government has been so involved in national elections, traditionally run by state and local governments.

The "best practices" guide is the latest response to the flaws in the nation's voting systems that surfaced during the presidential recount in Florida four years ago.

Among the recommendations:

• Look to colleges, high schools, local governments and corporations for poll workers.

• Let voters practice voting on the equipment they will be using.

• Plan for recounts, and publicize procedures in advance.

The message? "Don't repeat the mistakes people made in Florida," DeGregorio says.