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Democracy runs on elections. And elections run on volunteer poll workers.
In spite of the importance of these volunteers, in the past three national elections, our nation has seen a critical shortage of volunteer election workers all across the country. This lack of volunteers has forced election officials in several states to make tough decisions, such as combining voter locations and having fewer voter check in tables available. These changes created situations that often made it difficult for many Americans to exercise their right to vote.
In every statewide election held in West Virginia, county clerks across the state must recruit more than 8,400 citizen volunteers to serve as poll workers in the state's nearly 1,700 voting precincts.
In the 2020 election, West Virginia saw a record number of Mountaineers turn out to exercise their right to vote. That year also saw election officials in nearly every county struggle to find enough volunteers to properly staff each precinct. With this year's voter turnout projected to be even higher than it was four years ago, we must do all that we can to ensure that the closed precincts and long lines we've seen elsewhere don't happen here.
What then, can be done to help ensure that the hurdles to voting caused by the shortage of poll worker in other states don't happen here? The answer, we believe, lies with West Virginia's military veterans and their families. In 2022, the non-profit We the Veterans recognized the national crisis caused by poll worker shortages and committed to take action. By joining efforts with more than 30 veteran and military family service organizations and civic groups, it launched Vet the Vote. The focus of this non-profit, non-partisan organization is to help solve the 120,000 nationwide poll worker shortage by recruiting America's 17 million veterans and their families to volunteer at the polls. In 2022, more than 63,500 veterans and their families responded to that call, including dozens of Mountaineers.
While those results are something to be proud of, there is more work to do, and that is why we have teamed up to do all that we can to recruit West Virginia's veterans to volunteer as poll workers this year.
Undoubtedly, veterans are the most trusted demographic in the nation. And we can think of no better group to step up and solve our election volunteer shortage, while at the same time hopefully creating a new civic tradition in West Virginia's veteran community.
It's estimated that West Virginia has approximately 135,000 military veterans throughout its 55 counties. If our efforts get just a fraction of them to volunteer at the polls, they would make an unbelievable impact on ensuring that all West Virginians who are able to vote in this year's elections can.
There are a number of important roles that must be filled in order to ensure that our elections are carried out successfully, with all of the proper checks and balances in place.
By serving as poll workers, veterans would perform a number of tasks on Election Day such as opening the polls, checking in voters, issuing ballots, and maintaining the chain of custody of ballots to name a few.
This effort is civic -- not political. The public looks up to and respects our veterans. Having already served our country, veterans understand the importance of volunteering to preserve and protect our nation's most fundamental rights. We believe that by volunteering to serve as a poll worker, they would set a great example for others to follow.
To volunteer as a poll worker in West Virginia, please visit your county clerk's office. The service of our veterans and their families is the cornerstone of a thriving democracy. Your pledge to our nation extends well beyond uniformed service -- and we ask that you come help us protect the pillars of freedom and our electoral process through your voice and participation.
W.Va. Sen. Ryan Weld represents the 1st Senatorial District and serves as the Majority Whip as well as the Chair of the Military Committee and Vice Chair of the Judiciary Committee in the West Virginia Senate. He also is an attorney with the firm of Spilman, Thomas & Battle in the Wheeling office.
Army veteran Dan Vallone is the Director of Vet the Vote, a nonpartisan initiative to recruit veterans and military families to serve their communities again as poll workers.