18 | OCTOBER 22 • 2020 

E

ligible voters are being 
besieged by many 
sources to plan their 
November vote — especially 
since a new state law permits 
early voting by mail or in per-
son by filling out an absen-
tee ballot at the local clerk’
s 
office.
Record turnouts have been 
forecast with concern about 
crowded polling places being 
a health risk during the pan-
demic. Election officials were 
concerned that poll workers, 
who tend to be older adults, 
might not want to participate 
this year. However, some indi-
viduals and elected officials 
from the local Jewish com-
munity are working hard to 

ensure that Election Day and 
the absentee ballot count go 
smoothly.
The August 
primary provided 
a “trial run” and 
officials in several 
local communities 
reported some 
difficulty recruit-
ing sufficient poll 
workers. Debbie Binder, West 
Bloomfield Township clerk, 
said, “We were losing them as 
fast as we found them.” 
However, since August, 
West Bloomfield has recruit-
ed 200 workers and hopes to 
staff two shifts on Election 
Day and into the night. 
Individuals who are interest-

ed in working at the polls or 
processing absentee ballots 
in West Bloomfield can email 
electionworker@wbtownship.
org. Bloomfield Township, 
Farmington Hills and 
Southfield have been able to 
fill their positions for Nov. 3.
This year is the first time 
that all eligible, registered 
Michigan voters can request a 
mail-in ballot without provid-
ing a reason for not being able 
to vote in person. As of the 
week of Oct. 15, 2.8 million 
Michigan voters had request-
ed a mail-in ballot according 
to Jocelyn Benson, Michigan’
s 
secretary of state. This means 
that election officials face the 
dual challenge of COVID and 

a potentially large volume of 
absentee/mail-in ballots to 
verify and tabulate. 
While some poll workers 
chose not to return this year, 
probably due to COVID, 
others were inspired to work 
for the first 
time during this 
particular presi-
dential election. 
“It sounded like 
they would need 
extra people 
because of all of 
the absentee bal-
lots. I want to do my part. 
This is very important to me,” 
said Janice Allweiss Young, 
66, of Farmington Hills. She 
expected it to be a volunteer 

Poll workers persevere despite COVID,
citing safety measures and civic duty.

SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

IN 
THED
JEWS

Debbie 

Binder

Janice 

Allweiss 

Young

Election Day Heroes

continued on page 19