At the age of 71, Onondaga County resident Ralph Lyke has been a poll worker for 15 years. For Lyke, being a poll worker isn’t just a job, it’s an important part of democracy.
“Sometimes it gets to be a long day, but it’s a real good experience to know you helped voters out and gave them assistance,” Lyke said. “And then you go home at the end of the day, and you watch the returns on the television and that’s what it’s all about, representative democracy in America.”
Lyke is one of more than 2000 people who Onondaga County says work at polling stations throughout the county. However, they need more poll workers, according to Democratic commissioner of elections Dustin Czarny. It's part of a trend across the country, as poll workers age and counties struggle to find new recruits.
Czarny said each year it's getting harder to find new poll workers to fulfill the county's needs.
“Every county struggles to find poll workers. It's one of the hardest things we have,” Czarny said. “On election day, I'm going to have to put out about 1000 poll workers. And it's getting harder and harder each year to find people.”
He attributes it to the long hours and minimum wage pay that comes with working on Election Day. At $16 an hour, poll workers arrive at 5 a.m. sharp and stay through 11 p.m. to break down polls after voting closes at 9 p.m., he added.
“That's not something that's going to attract a lot of people,” Czarny said. “Younger voters don't like showing up at 5 a.m. in the morning to work a shift and rightfully so. They also have school that day. … It's tough.”
According to a 2024 Election Assistance Commission report, many poll workers are over 60 years old, with 28 percent being over 70.
Some advocacy groups actively engage in recruiting poll workers. While that is helpful, Czarny said, it is often too little too late.
“Advocacy around October doesn't really help us as much, but a lot of these groups have been working to do their recruitment earlier,” he said.
It would be ideal if they would begin recruitment in late summer at the same time as the Onondaga County Board of Elections training.
Best practice would have equal numbers of registered Republican and Democratic poll workers, but that’s not always the case.
“I've had really good success in getting Democratic poll workers, but we're not getting enough participation from the Republicans and non-enrolls to help counterbalance that,” Czarny said. “Quite honestly, we also need to just have bodies. So, we're not always as balanced as we would like to be. But I tend not to turn anybody away. Usually, if they take a class, they're going to be assigned a work shift.
County workers used to have Election Day off and would voluntarily work the polls, but a union renegotiation moved that day to Black Friday. Czarny wants to bring it back.
He suggested Syracuse’ and Onondaga County’s government offer workers a paid day off to work the polls.
As it is, if they want to work the polls, “they have to choose between using their vacation day for poll working,” which pays minimum wage, or staying on their job, Czarny said. “And that has hurt our recruitment greatly.”
He has found skeptics of the election process who come and watch or work the polls become enlightened.
“I think they understand that at least here in Onondaga County, and I know in every county, we do it right," he assured.
In the age of election denialism, Czarny said he believes poll workers are our best defense against election interference rhetoric.
“They're our neighbors. They're our friends, and they're our family. They're the ones who are watching this and making sure that the voters' rights are protected,” he said. Then added, “they're heroes, and I hope we get more of them.”
For Ralph Lyke, the poll worker who has stepped up for the past 15 years, it’s a fun experience meeting new people.
“We all work together as a team,” Lyke said. “Because teamwork makes the dream work.”
