MADISON, Wis. — The City of Madison Clerk’s Office is busy getting ready for Election Day. That includes recruiting and training poll workers.

What You Need To Know

  • The average age of a poll worker is 60 years old, according to the Pew Research Center.

  • That’s why many cities around the country, including Madison, are trying to engage the next generation of election workers and volunteers.

  • The Madison City Clerk’s Office tries to work around the class schedules of young election workers and keeps the poll worker application open longer for students.

  • It pays election officials $15.87 an hour.

The average age of a poll worker is 60 years old, according to the Pew Research Center. That’s why many cities around the country, including Madison, are trying to engage the next generation of election workers and volunteers.

As a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Vanessa Ivanov hasn’t been old enough to vote for very long. But she said she’s already well versed in how elections work.

She signed up to be a poll worker because she’s passionate about the democratic process. The first election she worked was the primary in April 2024. Now, she’s gearing up for Nov. 5.

“I’ve always been that friend who will remind you when there’s an election coming up,” she said. “You turn 18, here’s where you can register to vote. Poll working was the natural progression of that.”

Kayley Bell, a junior at UW-Madison, has been a poll worker since 2022 and is now trained to be a chief inspector. In that role, she’ll manage a voting site, reconcile voting numbers and resolve any complaints or concerns.

“It’s not about ideology or party affiliation, it’s about making sure all voices are heard,” Bell said.

Mike Quieto, an administrative support clerk with the Madison City Clerk’s Office, led the poll worker training session on UW-Madison’s campus. He said college age election workers are especially helpful at voting sites that draw a lot of college students.

“They’re more knowledgeable about how to navigate the UW website to provide proof of address,” Quieto said. “So, they can provide better service to each other than we could ever import for them.”

Ivanov said it helps to see people your own age when you go to vote.

“It can make young voters feel more welcome in the environment, and that makes it more likely, then, that they will continue that legacy of civic engagement past that one election,” she said.

The Madison City Clerk’s Office tries to work around the class schedules of young election workers and keeps the poll worker application open longer for students. It pays election officials $15.87 an hour.

Ivanov said she recommends it to anyone interested in trying it out.

“It gives you a new type of understanding of what it means, what actually goes into conducting an election,” she said.

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