Philadelphia, PA – Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt met with poll workers at a training seminar Wednesday and encouraged the public to register to vote and sign up to be poll workers.
In recognition of National Poll Worker Recruitment Day today, Schmidt attended a poll workers’ training session Wednesday at Esperanza in Philadelphia. Schmidt met with those attending the session to discuss their experiences serving as poll workers and to thank them for their continued hard work to ensure free, fair, safe, and secure elections in Pennsylvania.
Before meeting with poll workers, Schmidt spoke to media about poll worker recruitment efforts. He was joined by Philadelphia City Commissioner Seth Bluestein and Philadelphia Election Board Supervisor Shanna Fields.
“The 45,000 poll workers needed to staff more than 9,000 polling places around Pennsylvania every Election Day play a vital role in helping us run secure and smooth elections,” Schmidt said.
They also stressed the need for bilingual poll workers throughout the Commonwealth.
“Many Pennsylvania counties, including Philadelphia, also need poll workers who are bilingual – especially those who speak Spanish and Mandarin – and who can help voters for whom English is a second language,” Schmidt added as he emphasized the Shapiro Administration’s commitment to ensuring all eligible voters can exercise their constitutional right to vote, regardless of the language they speak.
To serve as a poll worker in Pennsylvania, individuals must be registered to vote in the county they intend to work at the polls in. However, 17-year-old high school juniors and seniors can serve as poll workers with the permission of their high school principal and their parent or guardian. Interested students should fill out the Student Poll Worker Interest Form.
Registered voters interested in learning more about being a poll worker can visit vote.pa.gov.
See what Pennsylvanians are reading:
WNEP: Preparing for Election Day
abc27: Become a poll worker, state officials encourage
Clearfield Progress: Voters encouraged to be poll workers in November election
WTAJ: Here's how to sign up to be a poll worker in Pennsylvania