August 16 is Help America Vote day and as part of the #VetTheVote coalition, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) wants to ask all Americans to sign up to serve as poll workers. Vet the Vote is aiming to get 100,000 veterans and military family members to serve as poll workers for the 2022 elections–and we need your help to reach that goal. We’re trying to sign up 30,000 veterans and military family members by August 16 as the first step in getting to 100,000. It takes less than a minute to get started, and you can do it by signing up on the Vet the Vote site.

“At its heart, voting is the embodiment of the democracy that veterans have fought so hard to defend,” said Jeremy Butler, CEO of IAVA. “But the national shortage of poll workers has reached a critical level – the traditional cohort of poll workers has an average age of 60 and the COVID-19 pandemic significantly suppressed their outstanding volunteerism.” 

Election boards across the country have struggled to recruit enough volunteers to efficiently and effectively run elections. America needs to recruit more than 1 million volunteers annually to administer election polling sites. Veterans and military family members are the answer to this crisis. As a community, we understand and have a history of service.

IAVA has been a lead advocate for veteran voting. As a poll worker, you are essential to the election process and enabling veterans to exercise that right. Election Day can’t happen without poll workers.

Come and join the next generation of poll workers, and sign up now!