The youth perspective
Graves, Caswell’s former student, is now 22 and has worked every election at Lincoln since 2022. He said he enjoys coming early to set up, and he now helps train others on the tablets to check in voters.
On the issues he cares most about, Graves said he’s unhappy with how the federal government is enforcing immigration law. He’s said he’s seen many social media videos of people being detained by ICE, which are “awful to see.”
“I’m tired of seeing that,” Graves said. “Every day, it’s something like [people] being torn apart, and the president goes and hides. So hopefully that’s something we can fix before this year ends.”
Another returning worker was Abdallah Sumrein, 18, who is now a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania but came back to work the polls for the third time.
Sumrein said midterm elections present an “underrated” opportunity to get involved. While most of the focus goes to presidential elections, “a lot of things need to be approved by the Congress that is impacted by our votes today,” he said.
Given his experience, he served this year as a table judge, assigning roles and helping less-experienced workers.
“When I got used to it, I was like, we need to get more people to do this,” Sumrein said. “It felt like a perfect opportunity for me to give back to the community and teach other kids.”
Among the first-timers was Mariam Soweid, a 17-year-old senior who said training and getting started as a poll worker was “very smooth.” She served as majority inspector, checking in voters and ensuring proper registration, as well as an Arabic-English translator.
Although Soweid is too young to vote, she said she wants to learn about important issues before going to the voting booth. Soweid said there should be youth-oriented community classes and social media campaigns to explain the importance of midterm elections and how local government works.
“It’s always good to know earlier what’s going on around you,” she said. “Most of us don’t know what these [midterm] elections are for.”
Mariam Soweid, 17, is a first time poll worker who also provides Arabic translation as needed. (Emily Swanson/WHYY)
Senior Eion-Matthew Trower, another first-timer, said he normally would’ve spent the day playing video games but decided he could use the $280 and wanted to try something new. “I don’t get to get out of my house much,” he said.
Trower said he’s extremely concerned about the housing crisis, with rising rents and mortgages cutting into people’s ability to afford basic needs like food and gas. This reality has hit teens hard, he said.
“It’s been a real bother for me, and I’m just looking out for someone who can hopefully tackle those issues and keep their word,” Trower said.
He said people his age are “desensitized to a lot of things,” having already lived through a global pandemic, wars, a contentious political climate and other challenges.
“It just becomes part of everyday life, and you learn to get used to it and live with it,” Trower said. “But we definitely care more than people say we do. It’s like, it’s affecting us.”
Eion-Matthew Trower (left), a senior, said he’s most concerned about the housing crisis. (Emily Swanson/WHYY)