PennLive: Poll workers ensure safe, secure elections in Pennsylvania

Jerry Feaser served as the Dauphin County elections director for 10 years before retiring in 2023. He understands the value of election officials and poll workers, and he appreciates their impressive commitment to ensure every election runs smoothly and securely.

Feaser recently wrote a guest column for PennLive/The Patriot-News, where he reminded Pennsylvanians that election officials and poll workers are regular members of our communities who receive specialized training about how our electoral process works. He highlighted their dedication in putting in long hours on Election Day to ensure votes are cast fairly and counted correctly.

Statewide, Pennsylvania will utilize about 45,000 poll workers to staff 9,000 voting locations during the primary election in April and the general election in November. These friends, neighbors and co-workers know how important it is to keep our democracy safe and secure, and they take that responsibility seriously.

According to Jerry: “Many decide to be poll workers because there are many important benefits. They receive detailed training about each part of the process, gain valuable experience, help their communities and even get paid for their work and for attending training. Even with those benefits, we know that we owe our poll workers a debt of gratitude for stepping up and conducting our elections.”

That’s why, when you finish casting your vote this primary election day, Jerry wants you to do one more thing: Thank a poll worker.

Read Jerry’s full piece in PennLive/The Patriot-News.