The Elections Workforce: How Many Election Workers are there Nationwide? The Elections Workforce: How Many Election Workers are there Nationwide?

Clip from a game show never to be aired:

Announcer: “26,824. Is that your final answer, Professor Gronke?”
Gronke: “Let me use my lifeline.”
Clock ticks …
Gronke:16840.43. That’s my final answer!”
Announcer: “Your final answer to the question `How many election workers
there are in the United States is 16840 point 43??”
Gronke: “Ok, around 20,000. I am very confident that there are around 20,000
election workers in the United States. Or maybe a few thousand more …”
Announcer: On to our next contestant!

The scenario above may never appear on television, but the question is a real one, and one that evades a good answer because there is so little systematic information about the size and composition of the elections workforce.

This post and future posts will provide information about the elections workforce, drawing on results from the 2023 Elections & Voting Information Center (EVIC) Local Election Official (LEO) Survey. We hope this will contribute to efforts to improve the size, diversity, and professionalization in that workforce, and spur other efforts to improve our knowledge base about staff to monitor progress moving forward.

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New EVIC Report on Oregon Local Election Official Staffing New EVIC Report on Oregon Local Election Official Staffing

We are excited to announce a new EVIC report on Oregon Local Election Official Staffing Commissioned by the Elections Division of the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office

Today, Paul Gronke and Paul Manson testified before the Oregon House Interim Committee on Rules regarding the “Oregon County Election Staffing Research Study” that EVIC prepared under their direction as commissioned by the Elections Division of the Oregon Secretary of State’s office to assess the staffing challenges faced by local election officials (LEOs) in Oregon.

EVIC’s report summarizes the findings from this study where LEOs from Oregon’s counties were interviewed for an average of 60-90 minutes, resulting in a combined 46 hours of interviews.

The Election Division of the Oregon Secretary of State’s office issued a press release today on this work. “Oregon County Clerks Struggling with Staffing, Retention, and Recruitment in the Midst of a Toxic Political Environment” can be viewed here.

In addition to the report and press release, you can access the joint written testimony of Paul Gronke and Paul Manson for EVIC here as well as the slide deck used at today’s hearing.

Today’s meeting agenda is located here

All of the aforementioned meeting materials are located in one place here: You can also find the video of today’s session posted there.

Please share this important work and reach out if you have any questions!

EVIC Stands in Solidarity with Black Americans EVIC Stands in Solidarity with Black Americans

EVIC STANDS WITH BLACK AMERICANS

In light of recent unconscionable acts of police brutality, EVIC stands in solidarity with Black Americans.

We further affirm their right to equal access to the ballot. Responding to a history of voter suppression and disenfranchisement, we believe that a free, fair, and secure election system; community outreach; and ongoing research is necessary to ensure equity in the voting process.

We are using these recent events to learn, reflect, and reexamine our beliefs and values to ensure that we are foregrounding justice in our election administration work. Together, we can encourage an election system that supports racial equity and anti-racism.

Mapping out the Challenges for Implementing Vote by Mail

A new piece in Belt Magazine maps out challenges facing the national call for expanding vote by mail. EVIC’s Director, Dr. Gronke notes the transition is a challenge akin to moving from “Walmart to Amazon” in short period of time. Along with other election administration scholars, this piece surveys the questions election administrators face. Read more here: “Democracy by Mail.”