Resources

This report provides a comprehensive update to the EAC's landmark poll worker reports from 2007 and 2016, based on current data across four key areas: recruitment, training, retention, and evaluation. It captures the significantly transformed landscape of poll worker management since 2020, addressing new challenges like workforce shortages, threats against election workers, and the adoption of emerging technologies. The report also highlights state-by-state practices and emerging best practices from jurisdictions nationwide.

The biennial comprehensive survey of election administration across all 50 states, five territories, and D.C., covering the 2024 presidential general election, achieved a 100% response rate. Key in-person voting findings include: more than 70% of voters cast ballots in person, split roughly evenly between Election Day and early in-person voting; mail ballot use declined to approximately 30%, down from 43% in 2020; more than 770,000 individuals served as poll workers; all states reported offering some form of in-person voting before Election Day; and ballot drop box use increased by nearly 10 percentage points from 2022 to 2024 in states that offered them. Two-thirds of voters cast ballots in person, reflecting a significant post-pandemic return to in-person voting. The survey also covers voter registration, UOCAVA voting, absentee voting, provisional balloting, and voting technology.

The biennial comprehensive survey of election administration across all 50 states, five territories, and D.C., covering the 2022 midterm general election—widely seen as a return to normal operations after the COVID-19-disrupted 2020 election. Key in-person voting findings include: 645,219 poll workers assisted with early and Election Day voting, including more than 80,000 first-time poll workers (16.7% of the total); election officials reported that poll worker recruitment was meaningfully easier than in the 2018 midterms; e-pollbook adoption grew significantly, with 2,271 local jurisdictions in 40 states using them (up 60% from 2008); nearly all states (94.6%) reported conducting logic and accuracy testing of voting machines before tabulation; and the 2022 EAVS collected data on drop boxes and ballot curing for the first time, finding nearly 13,000 drop boxes in use nationally. The survey also covers voter registration, UOCAVA voting, absentee voting, provisional balloting, and voting technology across all reporting jurisdictions.

This report examines poll workers in the current election environment, including recruitment challenges, training needs, and the role poll workers play in shaping the voter experience and in building public confidence in elections.

This three-part report explores the usability of electronic poll books for poll workers and voters. It includes (1) a landscape analysis of e-pollbook usability within polling locations, (2) a usability test plan that election officials and vendors can implement, and (3) a checklist of usability and accessibility features for procurement and assessment.

This report provides guidance for local election officials on how to collect and use data to manage polling place resources more effectively, including diagnosing congestion and allocating voting machines and poll workers.