Sometime in the mid-1980s, Marybeth Kuznik, unaware that her mother’s longtime propensity for toiling around the ballot box was also hidden in her genes, reluctantly agreed to substitute for an ill election official and accompanied her mother to the polls on Election Day.

Despite the low pay and long hours spent preparing and counting ballots and counseling voters on proper procedure, Kuznik said she left the polling place satisfied with the belief that she had contributed to the democratic process. Two decades later, Kuznik serves as executive director of VotePA, an organization she founded to ensure voter integrity and involvement and to attract poll workers throughout Pennsylvania, the only state that employs elected poll workers. Her mother, now 89 and recovering from a stroke, plans to staff the polls from a wheelchair and has a special treat to celebrate new voters’ first-cast ballots.

“She is excited when [first-time voters] come in, and usually they’re 18-year-olds,” Kuznik said. “She’ll ring [a replica] liberty bell, the new voter bell, [because] it’s a special experience.”

Kuznik, who serves as the Pa. majority inspector of elections in her Penn Township, Penn. precinct, said she and her colleagues are essential to ensuring a smooth election process and a positive voting experience.

“Somebody has to run the election,” she said, “and without poll workers there would be no way to vote. You can’t have people just walking off the street [not knowing how to vote]. Poll workers serve many functions from protecting election materials to making sure voters know what to do.

“[Poll workers] set the tone for the whole voting experience for the voter,” she continued. “If the worker cares about it, the voter who comes in will feel better about exercising their right to have a voice in democracy.”

For the first time, Massachusetts will hold its presidential primaries — along with 23 other states — on Super Tuesday, Feb. 5. The change of date puts added strain on election officials, including the Boston Election Department, which presided over 10 local and special elections in 2007, said Election Department chairwoman Geraldine Cuddyer.

“We’re pretty tuckered out,” Cuddyer said. “Then with the change of date we have to respond accordingly. It made us sharpen our focus, shorten our winter vacations or cut them off.”

While elections receive national attention each November, especially during presidential election years, Cuddyer said preparing for and working elections is a year-round commitment.

“People think we sleep and work two days a year, but it’s a lot of preparation,” she said. “Poll workers have to go to training before every election cycle.”

CHANGING FACES IN POLLING PLACES

In an effort to diversify the poll working population, in which the average age is 72, numerous organizations actively try to attract younger employees, minorities and bilingual workers.

According to the Massachusetts League of Women Voters website, the state’s more than 2,000 precincts require a staff of roughly 12,000 workers. Two years ago, the League worked on a bill allowing 16- and 17-year-old high school students to staff elections that passed through many state legislatures, MLWV executive director Kelly Marcimo said.

By recruiting in high schools, the League helps foster enthusiasm for the voting process among the next generation of voters and builds a foundation for future poll workers, Marcimo said.

“Most poll workers are retired individuals [who] typically work the whole day,” she said. “It’s quite a burden for people who do it and it’s a unique situation to get young people motivated in democracy at earlier age.”

Luisa Pena, coalition organizer for MassVOTE, an organization that aims to motivate young voters and eliminate voting barriers especially in minority communities, said voters, especially in urban areas, often need translators to help them successfully cast ballots.

“Friendly poll workers who can speak different languages and look like the voters make it a better, friendlier environment,” Pena said. “It’s a process anyone can go through but if they’ve never voted before, [helpful poll workers] can play a big role. If someone has a bad experience they may not come back to vote, but if they have it easier, they’re more likely to be voters for life.”

THE REWARD OF PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY

Though poll workers can earn up to $150 for their day spent manning the ballots, Cuddyer said the paycheck is not the main draw for most returning staff members.

“Some people do it for the money, some like getting out and seeing people and some people truly believe in citizen engagement. But people solely motivated by money don’t come back,” she said.

While many take the right to vote for granted, Kuznick said the experience she values most is watching disabled voters labor to the polls each election.

“You can tell [disabled] people make a major effort to get there and get their vote in,” she said. “It’s touching and feels [satisfying] if you help those people.”

Kuznik said she has developed personal relationships with citizens who come to the polls each election and looks forward to seeing familiar faces submitting their ballots year after year.

She said she hopes voters also feel comfortable to see the same people helping outside the voting curtains.

“Nobody thinks about it,” Cuddyer said. “It’s like wallpaper, they think