Poll worker Darcy Smith (second from left) helps check in voters at Sequoyah United Methodist Church in Fayetteville on March 5, 2024. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate)
Arkansans’ ability to vote in November falls heaviest on the shoulders of the people who staff polling places — a neighbor, a grocery store clerk or a friendly grandmother.
But in Arkansas counties with dwindling and aging populations, finding poll workers can be challenging. The current political climate also has some county officials concerned about their ability to staff voting locations in November.
Mike Adam, chair of the Jefferson County Election Commission, said officials consistently struggle to find enough poll workers for its 34 voting locations.
“[The population] is getting older, and the people that are younger are leaving,” Adam said. “Some of my very best poll workers in previous years are no longer doing it because they’re getting too old.”
Power the Polls , a national nonpartisan initiative to recruit the next generation of poll workers, is tracking a national shortage of election officials and recently identified four Arkansas counties that have an “urgent” need: Pulaski, Faulkner, Little River and Desha.