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Meet the Older Americans on the Front Lines of This Year’s Election

Poll workers are in short supply, but those who do the job tout the rewards

7-minute read

Ledyard King,

AARP

Published October 13, 2026

Clint Banner, 68, of Cary, North Carolina, says his military background makes him the perfect fit to be a poll worker.

Kate Medley

Key takeaways

Most poll workers are older than 60 and about two-thirds are women.
Nearly half of cities and counties report difficulty filling these frontline election jobs.
States and localities are testing new ways to recruit poll workers, including through patriotic appeals and extra pay.
AARP has many resources to help older Americans cast their ballots.

Clint Banner retired from the Army in 2020, but he never surrendered his military mindset. So when the Cary, North Carolina, veteran looked for ways to give back, volunteering at the polls seemed a natural fit.

“I want to know there are honest brokers out there and I want to be one of them,” the 68-year-old says about his decision to be a poll worker in Wake County, North Carolina. “My military background, to me, is great for it because for elections to work well, you have to follow the process. That’s how you make sure nothing gets compromised.”

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In the upcoming 2026 election, Banner plans to work early voting and Election Day.

Kate Medley

The former chief warrant officer re-upped as a poll worker this fall at a time when states and localities are struggling to staff the polling places that will process this year’s midterm elections.

More than 772,000 poll workers — about two-thirds of them women — served during the 2024 general election, according to the 2024 Election Administration and Voting Survey (EAVS) from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. But that wasn’t enough: Nearly half of jurisdictions reported having “a very or somewhat difficult” time recruiting poll workers in their communities, the report found.

Experts and poll workers themselves say the job of checking in voters and ensuring their ballots are counted has become increasingly challenging this year due to a spate of developments that have added to voter confusion and distrust. Numerous states have redistricted congressional lines, states are revising voter ID laws that spell out what you must present at the polls and AI deep fakes involving political candidates all have contributed to the tumult.

Want to Be a Poll Worker?

Most cities and counties are looking for poll workers, who help voters cast and record their ballots when they show up in person. Poll workers typically undergo training and often are paid a stipend for their time. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission has information about how to become a poll worker in your community. You can also check with your state or local elections office.

Banner says most voters he encounters are respectful and polite, but he says he has sensed increased tension at polling sites since he began working there several years ago. For him, allaying the concerns of voters is an integral part of the job.

“When somebody comes up and tells me, ‘Oh, I don’t trust it,’ then I’ll go, ‘Well, I’ll tell you what, you can trust it here, because the people I work with, I know they’re doing it the right way,’ ” he says.

He’s encouraged friends and strangers to join him in working at the polls. So far, there haven’t been any takers.

Trying to address the shortage

In Montana’s Gallatin County, where frontline election volunteers are called judges, Kathie Scarrah, 68, says polling places did not have the full complement of workers most of the time when she served as chief judge in the 2024 elections. Part of that, she says, was due to frequent turnover: Transplants who served as poll workers in other states had a tough time transitioning to Montana’s system, or there were people who were brought in at the 11th hour because the need was desperate.

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Those last-minute additions are “tough to work with only because you’re basically training them on things that they should have known before they were asked and agreed,” she says. “Democracy is not easy.”

The shortage persists at a time when polling places are expected to be more crowded. A recent NBC News poll found that Democrats, who traditionally vote by mail more often than Republicans, were more likely to vote in person this fall amid concerns over casting a ballot by mail.

The situation has improved slightly since the National Conference of State Legislatures warned three years ago that “inadequate pay and partisan balance requirements create a narrow field of qualified applicants, which is further diminished by recent harassment of poll workers.”

Fears of COVID-19 that chased away many older poll workers have subsided. And federal, state and local officials have tried to expand the pool of poll workers in various ways: appealing to citizens’ sense of civic duty, trying to allay mistrust in the election system by encouraging people to become poll workers themselves and, in states such as Oklahoma and Delaware, raising their pay.

However, higher pay doesn’t seem to make much of a difference, cautions Sam Novey, chief strategist at the University of Maryland Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement. “We found that money is not the main motivator for serving,” he says. “The oldest workers are the least likely to say that money is the motivation for serving.”

Most poll workers are 60-plus

Just as 50-plus voters make up the majority of those casting ballots, most poll workers are older Americans as well. Nearly 6 in 10 were at least 61 years old, according to the EAVS report.

It’s easy to understand why. Many of them are retirees who have more time to complete the training required, handle early voting assignments and spend up to 12 hours on Election Day to set up, process voters and deliver ballots to the central election office when voting concludes.

Election offices often prefer older poll workers because they’re viewed as more reliable, given their familiarity with the voting process, their ability to devote the time needed and their willingness to return, says Novey, who also serves as secretary of the Baltimore City Board of Elections.

“One reason so many older Americans are so overrepresented in this workforce is that they are able to meet the needs of election officials in a way that a lot of other people, frankly, can’t,” Novey says.

Who can be a poll worker?

To safeguard the integrity and credibility of elections, most states require that their pool of poll workers reflect a mix of political parties, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, a bipartisan organization that tracks state data and legislation.

Training, which varies among states, can be rigorous. Colorado tailors its training regimen to the type of job assigned to the poll worker. Illinois trains its workers every time new election judges are appointed. And 42 states plus the District of Columbia require poll workers to take some sort of oath pledging their loyalty to the integrity of the election process, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center, a nonpartisan think tank.

Linda Kruger, 75, of Juneau, Alaska, a retired U.S. Forest Service social science researcher, says her experience as a poll worker has only strengthened her trust in the system. “I know how much detail goes into setting up and certifying those machines and the locks that are on them so that nobody can mess with them,” she says. She often gets frustrated when she hears people cast doubt on the system. “We’re really, really conscientious about having a fair election.”

The poll workers AARP interviewed say they are drawn to the patriotic notion of civic duty. They spoke about wanting to contribute to the fundamental American value of voting and the role they play in trying to assure voters of the election’s integrity. That’s a big draw for Kruger. She’s been a poll worker since 2022 and also volunteers for AARP Alaska.

Cheryl Jefferson, 73, of Jacksonville, Florida, says she makes sure the voters she assists as a poll worker are treated “with dignity and respect.”

Tina Russell

Ultimately, the job requires patience and an understanding that you’re often the first person voters encounter when participating in a fundamental process of democracy, says Cheryl Jefferson, 73, of Jacksonville, Florida, a poll worker who, after retiring from a career in mortgage banking, helped take care of her two newborn granddaughters with the expectation that she would later find a way to provide public service

“It’s a way of giving back and to ensure all voters are treated with dignity and respect,” says Jefferson, who also volunteers as an AARP Florida executive council member. “Because I believe that how voters — especially first-time voters — are treated may determine whether they choose to even vote again.”

Join Our Fight to Make Sure Your Vote Counts

AARP is a nonpartisan organization that never supports or opposes candidates for office. We believe the right to vote is fundamental, and we advocate for policies ensuring that Americans 50 and older can exercise that right without unnecessary barriers. Here’s what you can do to help:

Learn more about voting in your state this year.
Pledge to vote for candidates in 2026 who will protect and strengthen Social Security and support family caregivers.
Sign up to become an AARP activist for the latest news and alerts on issues you care about.
AARP is your fierce defender on the issues that matter to people 50-plus. Become a member or renew your membership today.

Ledyard King is a writer for AARP covering advocacy issues and election news. He previously worked at other news outlets, including USA Today and National Journal.

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