Young people are also frequently
employed by EMBs as voting staff and other roles on election day and during the
electoral phase in general. This is a good way to “get them while they are
young,” and can have a positive impact on youth – educating them about
politics, building trust in government, and building their employment skills.
It also benefits the EMB, which needs to employ large numbers of people over a
short time, and re-employ this workforce periodically at every election. Youth
also are frequently employed as “Democracy Ambassadors” or “Youth Ambassadors”
– motivating and assisting youth and other groups to register and vote.
Example: In many jurisdictions in the United
States and Canada, youth aged 15, 16 and 17 are employed in “Youth at the
Booth” programs. These are paid roles, providing work experience for the young
people. In recent British Columbia elections, Elections
BC used youth workers who they considered as tech-savvy to find voter
information on the internet quickly so as to enhance voter experience at the
polls. In Ohio, the Youth at the Booth program recruits high-school
students. Ohio law specifically allows for 17-year-olds who are enrolled in the
senior year of high school to serve as voting officers.
Example: In Australia, 16- and
17-year-olds are employed as voting assistants by the Australian Electoral
Commission – providing a training ground for them to be employed as regular
voting officials after they turn 18. In the lead-up to the 2018 Victorian state
election, the Victorian Electoral Commission released a video advertisement
specifically aiming to recruit young people aged 16–25 – to work as casual employees at the election.
Example: “Day Off for Democracy.” In Ohio, in
the US, the election board instituted a program to engage the business
community and government agencies in the election process, called “Partners in
Democracy.” Participating businesses and agencies were encouraged to give their
employees a “day off for democracy” to allow them to serve as election workers.[i]
Example: In Nigeria, the EMB has used young people who are part of the
National Youth Service Corps as additional officials at voting stations,
helping to deepen the levels of youth interest in the elections.[ii]
Example: In Namibia, the EMB recruited young people to work as Youth Ambassadors to promote
the active engagement of young people in elections.[iii]
Example: The
Victorian Electoral Commission’s “Be Heard” Democracy Ambassador was a
peer-based electoral education program specifically designed for the 2018
Victorian state election, in Australia. Over 40 community members were
recruited, trained, and supported to provide face-to-face voter information to
groups identified as facing barriers to electoral participation. The 2018
Democracy Ambassadors were a diverse group, including: people with disabilities
(intellectual and physical), people who were homeless, people from CALD
(culturally and linguistically diverse) backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islanders, “at-risk” youths, and others. Youths were specifically
targeted and mentored during the program, based on an understanding that a
peer-to-peer approach to youth participation is one of the most effective
methods. See Annex: VEC Some Youth
Inclusion Programming.
As social media is a vital part of
any EMB’s communications strategy, creating a social media coordinator position
is a good way to attract talented young people, and is preferable to simply
adding these duties onto someone else’s workload.
Example: Georgia’s Central Election Commission ‘Open Door Day’.
In 2018, the Central Election Commission (CEC) in Georgia held an ‘Open Door
Day’ to youth as part of their educational programming. Participants visited a
photo exhibition on the history of elections in Georgia, and mock elections
were held. Representatives of the CEC Training Center provided the youth with
detailed information on E-day procedures and voters’ rights.
[ii] International
Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), Increasing Youth Participation throughout the Electoral Cycle: Entry
Points for Electoral Management Bodies, report on Round Table November
24–26, 2015, Pretoria, South Africa, (International IDEA, 2016), 20,
https://www.idea.int/publications/catalogue/increasing-youth-participation-throughout-electoral-cycle-entry-points.
[iii]
International IDEA, Increasing Youth
Participation, p.14.
