Boston’s municipal election came to a close on Nov. 4, but there were people at the polls who were just as vital to election day as the voters — poll workers. 

“My family has been doing [election work] for years, and I just decided, why am I not doing it? I believe in the right to vote. My family is civically minded, now I’m trying to do my portion,” said a poll worker of five years, Purple Reign. 

As voters arrived at various polling locations across the city, they were greeted, checked in, helped, and encouraged by these volunteer workers. The City of Boston encourages anyone with a passion for free and fair elections to apply online. Applications are even offered to people who aren’t yet eligible to vote, including Boston Public School students and those from the High School Student Poll Worker Program.

Election day poll workers receive two hours of paid training from the city and a stipend for their “day of service.” Although there is some financial compensation, most poll workers said they are not in it for the money. Rather, this is an opportunity for civically engaged citizens to participate in democracy and help facilitate an ethical election. 

“I enjoy politics and I want to see it done ethically, and the way we do it is right,” said a poll worker of eight years, Chris Perry. 

For some, being a poll worker is inherited. It’s a tradition passed down from family members and maintained for generations, with some poll workers having more than 20 years of experience.

“My family would take me as a little girl to go vote with them, so I know the importance of voting, and as soon as I turned 18, they made sure that we all registered to vote, and we voted with my parents,” Reign said. 

“So in my family, there’s a history — especially being a person of color where we were not allowed to vote and people were lynched for it — we know there is value in the history of it, so why not work the election?”

For others in the city, being a poll worker is a means of engaging with their communities while participating in democracy. 

“It’s fun because I interact with my neighbors. I live in the neighborhood, so this is my precinct, my ward, and I’m the clerk. So it’s fun that we get to participate in the process. I see my neighbors, we get to socialize and we actually have fun down here,” said a poll worker of one year, Lisa Jones.

Poll workers are essential to any election in the United States, but it takes passionate people to take on local election assignments. Local elections, like Boston’s municipal election, typically see a low voter turnout and less foot traffic on election day. 

“It’s been a low turnout, only 127 voters so far today,” Reign said at 1:45 pm on November 4th, election day.. “For the presidential election, we went through 200 ballots already by this time, so it’s a slow process.”

Still, those who do show up to cast their ballots are motivation enough for poll workers to continue helping out on local election days.

“For the preliminaries, we had a lot of new voters, so now those voters are coming back because of everything that’s going on,” Jones said. “People are coming out because they are seeing how important it is to vote, so it’s a steady turnout, usually local is less, but they’re still coming out.”

The warden at The Dewitt Community Center in Roxbury and poll worker of eight years, Jim Shea, described civic engagement as a “pearl,” or something to be cherished. He remained optimistic about voter turnout despite the top-of-the-ticket mayoral race being uncontested. 

“This is unique because I’ve never known a person to be the only candidate on the ballot,” Shea said. “The number of people coming here is about the same count as the September primary. People are returning to cast a vote, even though [Wu] is unopposed.”

There are a range of roles poll workers may fill, some requiring more experience than others. There are wardens who run their specific polling location, inspectors, and clerks. Each position is essential to ensure that election day runs smoothly. 

“This is my first time doing a clerk job, it’s a little different of an experience than being an inspector,” Perry said. “I received a good level of knowledge as an inspector, and then as a clerk, I’m doing a little more than that to make sure that the books are right.”

Aside from the necessary tasks of checking identification and processing ballots, poll workers perform key roles that often go unappreciated. From handing out “I Voted” stickers to translating ballots and instructions into different languages.

“Voting in local elections is very important because they have a lot of direct impact on everything,” said Boston voter Henry Madten. “Civic engagement is important, especially right now, because it’s the only thing I can do besides protest.”

Many poll workers agreed that local elections are one of the most significant elections for people to vote in, even though they often receive the fewest number of votes.

“The local elections are very important, and people don’t realize it. People only come in for the ones with the governor or the president, but they don’t realize that these small elections are the ones that make decisions that affect your daily life,” Reign said.