American Sustainable Business Network and Power the Polls Partner to Recruit More Poll Workers Before Midterm Elections

American Sustainable Business Network will work alongside Power the Polls to engage businesses and promote poll working as a way for employees to become civically engaged.

With the midterm elections fast approaching in November, American Sustainable Business Network (ASBN) is partnering with Power the Polls to provide business leaders and investors with the tools to support democracy by encouraging their workforces to become potential poll workers. 

Power the Polls is a first-of-its-kind, nonpartisan initiative for recruiting the next generation of poll workers, which launched in 2020, and has recruited over 125,000 poll workers this year since relaunching in May 2022. ASBN was an original partner of Power the Polls in 2020, helping respond to the unprecedented need for widespread poll worker recruitment.

Through this partnership and ASBN’s Business for Democracy initiative, a national advocacy campaign supported by state collaboratives in key battleground states, ASBN has been able to more clearly illustrate the connection between a strong democracy and a thriving economy that accounts for the needs of all stakeholders. 

“Our Business for Democracy campaign aims to make protecting democracy a top concern for voters in November,” said Frank Knapp, director of business for democracy at ASBN. “However, our advocacy will not be successful if people are dissuaded from voting because of an insufficient number of poll workers to help the voting process run smoothly. That is why our Power the Polls partnership is so important.”

As the call for businesses, large and small, to support inclusive democracy continues to grow, ASBN is committed to working with business leaders, policymakers and impacted communities to strengthen and protect American democracy this election season – and poll workers are an essential part of that approach. 

“Strong civic engagement is needed to ensure a fair, free election, and ASBN supports all business leaders who are encouraging their communities, employees and other stakeholders to get out the vote,” said David Levine, president and co-founder at ASBN. “ASBN believes it is crucial for every responsible company to facilitate voter registration, stand for voter access, encourage poll-worker recruitment and support employees and other shareholders voting as part of its overall worker well-being and sustainability strategy.”

This partnership mobilizes ASBN and its association members—representing over 250,000 American businesses—to support participation in democracy through poll worker recruitment. In addition to direct outreach to its network, ASBN provided education and resources to its members and the public through an interactive voting map that gives state-to-state election information like important dates, voter registration deadlines, polling locations, and how to register to become a poll worker.

“Our democracy relies on the robust and active participation of our fellow Americans and businesses play a unique role in empowering their employees to remain civically engaged,” said Jane Slusser, program manager at Power the Polls. “In 2020, we saw many large corporations and small businesses alike step up to offer employees time off to vote, uplift becoming a poll worker as one way to participate in the election and much more. By partnering with associations such as American Sustainable Business Network again in 2022, we have the opportunity to reach business leaders who have the power to recruit more potential poll workers and help ensure a safe and fair election for all.”

In affiliation with a network of partners such as ASBN, Power the Polls helped to ensure the election ran smoothly by recruiting more than 700,000 potential poll workers ahead of the 2020 general election.

Poll workers play an essential role in our democracy, helping to ensure every polling location is properly staffed with poll workers, and affirming the legitimacy of American democratic institutions by ensuring every voter has access to vote. Empowering employees to become poll workers is one way for American businesses to do their part to protect democracy—and ensure a stable, healthy, and well-functioning economy—not only for this election cycle, but for many years to come.

To sign up to be a poll worker, please visit http://www.powerthepolls.org/theASBN. 

About Power the Polls
Power the Polls is a first-of-its-kind, nonpartisan initiative for recruiting poll workers to ensure a safe and fair election for all. Power the Polls was launched in June 2020 by a coalition of businesses and nonprofits, including Civic Alliance, Civic Responsibility Project, Comedy Central, Fair Elections Center, Pizza to the Polls, MTV Entertainment Group, and Center for Secure & Modern Elections. Power the Polls relies on objective data about poll worker requirements and applications collected from over 5,000 jurisdictions assembled by the non-partisan Fair Elections Center.