FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JULY 16, 2020

Media contact: Ana Maria Rosato [email protected]

ATLANTA – Today, the ACLU of Georgia announced the rollout of its Poll Worker Recruitment Program. One reason for the problems experienced during the June 9 primary election was that Georgia simply failed to have enough poll workers to run an effective election.

Many poll workers dropped out due to the risk of contracting COVID-19, poll worker recruitment efforts or websites failed to be clear how one becomes a poll worker and were hard to find, and some Georgians who asked to serve as poll workers never received any response. Many of the poll workers were also insufficiently trained which lead to the chaos of long lines, inoperable voting machines, and misinformation regarding provisional and absentee ballots.

The ACLU of Georgia is actively recruiting civic-minded volunteers to fill this critical need in our upcoming elections: the primary runoff on August 11 and the general election on November 3. Given the particular circumstances of our time and the fact that 72 is the average age of poll workers throughout the state, the program is looking to recruit younger Georgians who are at lower risk of COVID-19 complications, lawyers committed to understanding the ins and outs of election law and administration, or tech-savvy Georgians who can help keep the electronic voter machines up and running.

“We are asking civic-minded citizens to heed the call to be involved as a poll worker in their own county, because our sacred right to vote depends on it,” said Christopher Bruce, political director of the ACLU of Georgia.

To learn more about the ACLU of Georgia’s poll worker recruitment program, please visit acluga.org/pollworkers.

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