A Demographic and Professional Profile of the Frontline Workers of American Elections

This chapter provides a detailed look at the demographic and professional profiles of local election officials (LEOs) in the United States, what features of these profiles have remained stable and which have changed over time, and what administrative and political processes are the most likely causes of these profiles. Drawing on three years of national surveys of LEOs in 2018, 2019, and 2020, we show that even in a period of dramatic disruption in politics and elections, the “typical” LEO in 2020 is not that different from the “typical” LEO 15 years earlier: a mid-50s white female earning just under $50,000 a year. We explore the career trajectories of LEOs—workload, job satisfaction, and career trajectories—to help fill out this portrait of these frontline workers of American democracy. The second half of the chapter takes a deep dive into gender and election administration, providing some reasons that the elections community remains so heavily female. This first look at the “who” of election administration provides an important basis of comparison to situate election administration in local government more broadly and is a necessary foundation for any scholars, researchers, and reformers working on elections.