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Are they still “volunteers” if they’re getting paid?

One of the problems making people nervous about voting season this year (among a veritable galaxy of others) is the lack of registered volunteer poll workers. The lion’s share of poll workers are usually the elderly and retirees; people with more time on their hands and more capacity to be invested in politics. Unfortunately, the elderly and retirees are right in the strike zone of COVID-19, which means volunteering is a potentially terrible idea for them. Despite the fact that many local governments are putting together a game plan to keep poll workers safe, a lot of people understandably don’t want to put themselves at risk. In times where volunteer work isn’t available, the best alternative is paid work.

Clothing retailer Old Navy announced today that they are willing to pay any of their employees a full day’s wages if they go to volunteer at their local polling station. As Old Navy’s parent company, this is one of GAP’s contributions to voter turnout initiatives like Civic Alliance and Power the Polls. Both of these groups are trying to round up at least an additional 250,000 poll workers in time for the November elections so all polling locations can operate at their proper capacities.

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“Every voice in this country matters and deserves to be heard at the polls, and if we at Old Navy can be even a small part of making that process more accessible to the communities we call home, we are on board,” Nancy Green, the Head of Old Navy, said in a press release.

New York City has been cited as a reason why a proper staffing of poll workers is necessary, as their primary ballots a few months ago were especially chaotic due to fluctuating poll worker staff. While officials did report that they had approximately the same amount of staff as the 2016 election, the pandemic is making it difficult to determine who’s actually going to show up.