To the Editor,

As the November 5, 2024 General Election gets closer, the over 300 poll workers, technicians, and election officials in the City of Cranston deserve our universal support, thanks, and praise for their vital public service to support the city’s 61,000 registered voters.

Being a poll worker is no easy task, working a 15-hour day (or longer) on Election Day and attending a separate multi-hour training class, all for a small stipend. In the last General Election conducted by Cranston, in 2022, our youngest poll worker was 16, and our oldest was 98 years old (condolences to the loved ones of our oldest poll worker — World War II veteran and Cranston legend Louis Marciano — who recently passed away after a lifetime of dedicated public service).

Poll workers step up in good times and bad — just as hundreds did for us in the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic — to ensure the gears of our democracy continue to turn as they must. And while the election for President gets all of the media attention, keep in mind that Cranston voters will also go to the voting booth and cast ballots for U.S. Senator, U.S. Representative, State Senator, State Representative, Mayor, three Council City-Wide candidates, a Ward Councilmember, and both a City-Wide and Ward School Committee Member — not to mention five state ballot questions and two city charter questions.

Our office continues to recruit, train, and hire poll workers for Nov. 5 (call us at 401-780-3127 today to apply!), and I am deeply proud of the three colleagues I work with every day at City Hall in the Canvassing Authority, who collectively have over 60 years of excellent election administration experience between them. Our election workers truly go out of their way to ensure every ballot cast in Cranston is counted correctly, and that no qualified voter is disenfranchised.

Whether you go to the polls for early voting (that’s at the Pastore Youth Center, 155 Gansett Ave., 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays from Oct. 16 through Nov. 4, ending at 4 p.m. on Nov. 4, plus open on Saturday, Nov. 2 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), or whether you plan to vote on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. (confirm your poll online at vote.ri.gov or call us at 401-780-3121), make sure to take a moment to thank one of the over 300 heroes of democracy who have stepped up, time and time again, to be a poll worker or election official who ensures your ballot — your voice — is heard.

Nick Lima, Cranston Canvassing Authority

EDITOR’S NOTE: Nick Lima has been the Registrar/Director of Elections for the City of Cranston Board of Canvassers since January 2017.