Centre College Bonner, Chloe Feddersen ’27, was recently featured in Forbes in an article she wrote, highlighting the vital role poll workers play in strengthening democracy. Drawing from her own experience serving as a poll worker in Kentucky, Chloe reflects on how election service can deepen students’ civic learning, build community connections, and inspire lifelong public leadership. Her piece also makes a thoughtful call to action for colleges and universities to make poll worker recruitment a more central part of campus civic engagement efforts.
Chloe and her mother, Beth, serve as election officials during early voting in Spring 2026.
PHOTO COURTESY OF CHLOE FEDDERSEN
By Chloe Feddersen, Brand Contributor, for Civic Nation BRANDVOICE
Growing up, civic engagement was always around me. My mom has worked the polls during elections, so Election Day had a familiar routine in my family. I would go with my dad while he voted, stop by to see my mom, say hello to her friends and fellow poll workers, and collect my ‘I Voted’ sticker. At the time, I didn’t think much about the people who made elections happen, I just knew my mom was one of them.
In high school, I became interested in local government and how communities come together to make decisions. What made it even more meaningful was being able to connect what I was learning in my classes to someone I knew. By the time I turned 18, I knew I wanted to be part of the process myself. I wanted to be a poll worker, like my mom.
I have now worked as a poll worker in my small Kentucky town for three years, and I have absolutely fallen in love with it. Working the polls has taught me a lot about elections, but the most valuable lessons have come from the people I’ve met. On Election Day, I am often one of the youngest people in the room. Many of the people I work alongside have been serving our community for decades.
Despite our differences, we all show up to help our community conduct safe and secure elections. I’ve built friendships with people I never would have met otherwise. Those relationships have shown me that civic engagement is about working across differences to serve a shared purpose. I am especially grateful to my county clerk, who welcomed me into election work at a young age and helped foster my interest in civic engagement and my knowledge of being a poll worker. His support made it clear to me that young people have a place in our democracy and that we are important for our system to thrive.
Serving as an election worker is one reason I believe colleges should expand civic engagement beyond nonpartisan voter registration and turnout. Colleges make a strong effort to encourage students to register and vote, but most civic engagement efforts end there. Poll worker recruitment is rarely part of the conversation, even though it is one of the most direct ways people can participate in democracy and feel empowered beyond casting a ballot. Serving as a poll worker gave me the confidence to take on more active roles in my community and to continue serving in different ways.
Communities across the country need election workers, and students are uniquely positioned to help fill that need. By serving as an election worker, students gain firsthand experience with how elections actually work and a deeper understanding of the communities they call home. If colleges are serious about developing lifelong civic leaders, poll worker recruitment should be part of the conversation. Civic engagement offices can partner with local election officials, promote opportunities to students, and treat election service with the same level of attention as voter registration drives. It should not be an afterthought; it should be part of the civic engagement pipeline.
So yes, encourage students to vote. Encourage them to make a voting plan. Encourage them to show up on Election Day. But also encourage them to help make Election Day a possibility.
Volunteer as a poll worker (students can sign up here or reach out to their local board of elections). Reach out to your local election office and ask how to get involved in your community beyond voting. You’ll learn more about elections than any classroom can teach you. You’ll meet people who care deeply about their communities, even as they come from different backgrounds from you. And you’ll play a direct role in making democracy work.
I know I will continue working elections wherever life takes me, because democracy is not self-sustaining. It only works when people consistently show up to make it happen.
More than 1,000 colleges and universities currently participate in the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, including Centre College. Learn more about ALL IN and support our work here.
Read Chloe’s full article in Forbes here, and learn more about how students can get involved as poll workers through ALL IN’s poll worker recruitment resources.