A Word from Director of Outreach Chris Lewis:
"By the People highlights many of the problems that threaten our election process in this country.  One of the most urgent issues we face is apathy toward the process.  Not only was the voter turnout much lower than expected for the 2004 presidential election but we are by the latest count short 500,000 poll workers to actually staff the polls.  Our mission is to use this film to raise awareness of these issues and get people involved in the voting process!  We reached out to the Board of Elections in each of the cities we screened the film and found enthusiastic support.  In our very first city, New York, the Board of Elections officially endorsed the film.  Not only did they help promote the film but they were present at each screening to register new voters and recruit poll workers.  We used this model in each city that followed.  We found local election officials everywhere eager to partner in our efforts.  New voters and poll workers were recruited in every city we screened the film.  Election officials in many cities requested that we include Q&A sessions and panel discussions so they could discuss their own unique election issues and demonstrate new voting machines and procedures.

We continue in our mission to raise awareness and to get people involved in the process. 
We cannot take for granted our most precious right, the right to vote."
 - Chris Lewis

There is currently a shortage of at least 500,000 poll workers nationwide. The Election Assistance Commission estimates that the average age of a poll worker is 72 years old.

“BY THE PEOPLE struck a chord with me. The challenges facing the election officials profiled in BY THE PEOPLE mirror the challenges that we face in New York.”
---John Ravitz, Director of New York City Board of Elections
(Pictured with Malindi Fickle & Liza Politi, Director & Producer BTP. New York City, July 24, 2006)

 (click here for full story)

Poll Worker Signup Workers
Austin, TX Aug, 2006

 

"Oregon conducts all its elections by mail, but we still require temporary election workers. 'By the People' is just what we need to tell closet election workers it's time to show up....not just in Oregon, but in every state in the nation!"
- Mary Shultz,
Assistant Director of Elections,
Multnomah County, Oregon

Mary Shultz
(Asst. Director of Elections, Multnomah County, OR) &
Jennifer Fitzgerald
(Producer - By The People)
Portland, OR Sept. 2006

"Rarely are we given the opportunity to participate in events that bring attention to enormous challenges facing Election Officials across the country.  Participating in the Los Angeles premier of By The People helped us educate the public about the reality of administering elections and the critical role played by our citizen volunteers. The two day event also provided a great venue to recruit pollworkers for Los Angeles elections."
Frank Martinez, City Clerk, Los Angeles

Frank Martinez
(Los Angeles City Clerk) 
Maria de la Luz Garcia
(Sr. Project Coordinator Multilingual Voter Outreach Unit Elections Division, Los Angeles City Clerks Office)
Los Angeles, CA Sept., 2006 

Cindy Richert
(Minneapolis Board of Elections)
Minneapolis, MN Aug. 2006

Charles MacNulty 
(San Francisco Board of Elections)
San Francisco, CA Sept., 2006

Chris Lewis 
(Director of Outreach)
& Malindi Fickle (Producer/Director)
New York, NY July 2006

Chris Lewis
(Director of Outreach)
Indianapolis, IN Aug. 2006

"The specific conditions of elections vary from county to county - state to state, but the scope of the overall task remains the same. While elections continue to be a hornet’s nest of issues from election laws to voting machines, the one fundamental truth is that we need people. Today in the US we are 500,000 people short of staffing the polls sufficiently – not well – but adequately. The average age of a poll worker is 72. How many 90 year olds does it take to make an average age of 72?" - Malindi Fickle, Producer/Director, Aug. 2006

Doris Anne Sadler & Malindi Fickle at Post Screening Q & A in Indianapolis, IN
Aug. 23, 2006

For More Information email   Chris Lewis - Outreach Coordinator