By AARON SANDERFORD
Nebraska Examiner
OMAHA — Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen, Douglas County Election Commissioner Brian Kruse and Douglas County Board Chair Mary Ann Borgeson celebrated local poll workers who have served over 20 years.
The three officials used the ceremony honoring 17 poll workers to draw attention to the need in the Omaha area and across Nebraska for more poll workers before the 2024 presidential election. The state’s 93 counties staff polling places during every election, and many workers are aging out.
“You are actually indispensable to our election process, and I know these last few years have been a little tough on not only election staff, but on the poll workers themselves,” Borgeson said, referencing criticism of poll workers nationally since the 2020 election.
She said their work helped Nebraska foster an “honorable and honest election process.” Evnen called their service to the state and nation “critically important.” He said Americans and Nebraskans owe them “a debt of gratitude.”
“We cannot have elections that people have confidence in unless we have poll workers who, like you, your friends, your colleagues, your neighbors,” Evnen said.
Douglas County alone needs hundreds more poll workers to step forward for the $12-an-hour job so they can train up to 2,800 poll workers that the Omaha area will need for 2024, Kruse said. Evnen described the statewide need as pressing, too.
Officials urged Nebraskans to contact their county election office or their county clerk to learn more about the process of becoming a poll worker. The information is posted in Douglas County on the Election Commission’s website.
“Poll workers have answered the call through wars, scheduled elections, special elections, recall elections and even the pandemic we saw in 2020,” Kruse said.
Evnen said state and local election officials saw an increase in first-time poll workers in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, after they called for help to temporarily replace older poll workers and people at greater risk of getting sick.
He said he was proud Nebraska kept its polls open for in-person voting in a year that saw record numbers of ballots requested by mail. On Wednesday — National Poll Worker Recruitment Day — Evnen said the state plans another poll worker recruitment push for 2024.
“I encourage citizens all across our state, all across Douglas County … to consider serving as a poll worker,” Evnen said. “It’s a grind. It’s a long day, but it’s a pleasure, isn’t it? Because you are making democracy work.”
Kruse, after handing Lila Marconcini a certificate honoring her 22 years of service, asked if he would see her again in 2024. Her answer, delivered with a wry smile that prompted laughter: “It’s a date.”