JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Florida high school students could soon have a new opportunity to earn community service hours towards their graduation and Bright Futures scholarship eligibility, and the idea was inspired by Duval County’s very own Supervisor of Elections.
Like any good grandfather might do, Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland was helping his grandson, Ethan, look for volunteer opportunities to meet his Bright Futures Scholarship requirements.
It seemed like the perfect chance to show his grandson what his grandpa does for a living.
“We always want to get young people involved in elections and voting,” said Holland.
But when looking at the list of options, he was surprised to see one option missing.
“There was nothing around voting,” said Holland.
After some digging, Holland found that when state lawmakers banned volunteer poll workers after the 2020 election, it cut off a critical opportunity for Florida students.
“State law wouldn’t allow it. The only thing you can volunteer for is a polling location, you know, can volunteer their site, but a person couldn’t volunteer to work inside the polls,” said Holland. ”So, I thought this would be a great community service project.”
Now, he’s turned his discovery into action.
Bills moving in the Florida House and Senatewould create a carveout to the volunteer poll worker restriction and allow high school students who are pre-registered or registered to vote to volunteer at the polls to earn community service hours.
That means students as young as 16 could participate.
“If adults, you know, want to be involved in it, then go to the training and become a poll worker,” said Holland. “But this is really one, to inspire young people to get involved in elections.”
And Holland argued the proposal is a win-win for supervisors and students alike.
“It won’t replace anybody, but what it will do is maybe motivate someone or instill in somebody, when they get older, maybe I want to come back and be a poll worker. And poll workers often become Supervisor of Elections. I was a poll worker,” said Holland. “So, I’m looking at trying to instill that kind of inspiration in my grandson.”
The House and Senate bills both have two more committee stops left.
If approved, the volunteer option would open up starting on July 1st, just ahead of the midterm election.
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