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BY MELINDA BURRELL

“I love working the polls!” a friend told me recently. “It strengthens my trust in the whole process. And it’s fun getting to help eligible voters flex their civic muscles.”

I think about my friend’s experience as I hear stories about mistrust in our elections. 

National and state laws set some guardrails for our elections, but elections are managed locally. That means that elections are run by our friends and neighbors. Thousands of veterans and members of military families are working at polling stations, as are nurses, retirees, small business owners and others. “We the People” indeed.

In this spirit, what can we do to build trust in elections, so that we all feel votes have been counted fairly?

As individuals, we can learn how a polling place works. 

We can check out the website of our state board of elections and to learn the many levels of observation and control. We can learn about the training poll workers are given, the oath they swear to run a fair and transparent process, and the many safeguards in place against cheating. We can think about what our concerns are. Cyber attacks? People voting multiple times? Ineligible voters casting ballots? Physical intimidation at the polls? Then we can explore how our own jurisdictions guard against those threats. 

We can watch Time magazine’s documentary “The Officials” for a behind-the-scenes look at election officials. Then consider signing a pledge in support of election officials put together by HowElectionsWork.org, a non-profit organization of Republicans, Democrats and Independents working to fix our political system.

As humans, we’re hardwired to receive most of our information subconsciously. That means we’re very susceptible to repetition of claims that “there will be problems.” We can refuse to accept such claims at face value, and instead research and conclude for ourselves.

We can work the polls ourselves, like my friend, by registering with our local board of elections to receive training (and sometimes even get paid). We can also observe elections from inside or outside polls.

Additionally, we can ask our local leaders to work now to build trust in elections. In Virginia’s 2023 state elections, Fauquier County GOP chair Greg Schumacher and his Democratic counterpart Max Hall jointly toured the polling facilities before the election and put out a statement in advance saying they trusted the system and would agree to abide by the results regardless of who won. Can our own local leaders do something similar?

Candidates can be mindful of the fear that is causing both sides to worry about losing the election – the fear of being left out and over-ridden. We can ask candidates to address this fear by speaking now about how they will work with everyone should they be elected. They can promise a seat at the table so that everyone’s voice is heard, such as by forming bipartisan commissions to study issues facing the community. 

Finally, and very importantly, candidates can uphold peaceful forms of civic participation, reminding voters that there is no place for violence in our elections. We can remind them of this responsibility, further living out the extraordinary promise of our nation – “We the People.” 

 

(Melinda Burrell, PhD, is a former humanitarian aid worker and now trains on the neuroscience of communication and conflict. She is with the National Association for Community Mediation, which offers resources for community approaches to difficult issues.)