Mak Thompson: Empowering Mainers to vote 

Helping others make informed decisions about the future of their community and country is crucial to Mak Thompson, a University of Maine senior from Bangor. Thompson has volunteered to serve as a poll worker during elections since high school. This year, they will once again empower Mainers to participate in the electoral process as a poll worker for the town of Orono during the general election on Nov. 5.  

Thompson, who is double majoring in political science and women’s, gender and sexuality studies, has been working with UMaine UVote, a student-led advocacy group that helps people register to vote and offers education and outreach on engaging in the election process. During the general election, they will join dozens of other student poll workers from UVote  to help manage the polls, assist with same-day registration, hand out ballots and keep records of who voted. On Oct. 30, they and other volunteers helped Orono residents vote early and register. 

“I know a lot of students are really worried about the results of the election, but I think that the most important thing to do is to get out and vote and make sure that you are informed,” Thompson said. “UMaine UVote has a lot of resources, and other organizations provide resources on how to answer questions on the ballot. “

Thompson has also been working with associate professor of political science and honors Rob Glover as a research assistant since August, gathering data surrounding poll worker recruitment and the impacts of serving as a poll worker. 

During their research with Glover, Thompson found that recruiting citizens to work as poll workers on election day is difficult. However, shared concern regarding the integrity of the election process helped make it easier. This concern motivated citizens to work the polls during election day to ensure the legitimacy of the electoral process and help protect democracy. 

“Mak was invaluable to our field research, engaging directly in canvassing, phone banking and collaborating with Maine’s town clerks. Their hands-on work was crucial to understanding the factors that support successful poll worker recruitment and some of the challenges faced by our local election officials,” Glover said. 

Outside of the classroom, Thompson serves as president of UMaine’s branch of Triota, the national honors society for women’s, gender and sexuality studies, and helps organize events to provide resources to the UMaine community. Thompson is a tutor on campus and previously worked with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, which helped them feel more connected to the campus community.

We spoke to Thompson more about their experience conducting poll worker recruitment research and learning about the importance of working the polls directly from citizen volunteers.

How did you get involved with UVote? 

I am a political science major, so I am included in emails that every student in the department receives. However, I am also currently a research assistant for professor Rob Glover. He reached out, expressing that I would be a good fit for UVote due to the fact that I enjoy helping people make informed decisions and get the information required to make an informed vote. 

Tell us more about the work you will be doing as a poll worker on election day. 

On election day, I will most likely be in the Collins Center helping people register to vote — whether or not that means someone has a form of ID on them, knows their address, or just being able to get registered and fill out that card with them — or handing out the ballots to people and sitting down with them, and checking their names off the list and making sure that gets done. To prepare for this role, we had a Zoom meeting with the former liaison for the town of Orono. She walked us through how to appropriately get someone registered and make sure that there are no mistakes, and making sure we understand that it is okay to ask for help if you are unsure how to help the person, because you may not know how to help. We want to make sure that everyone has the ability to vote. 

Can you describe your research surrounding poll worker recruitment and how the role impacts volunteers?  

I have been doing this since August. We started calling citizens from towns like Standish and Winslow to see if they were interested in working the polls. As much as I would like to say that a lot of people said yes, it was very hard to get people to say yes. We also asked them what they thought about helping democracy, and many people were worried about the upcoming election. We wanted to give them that ability to help and understand that elections are being run safely in Maine. It has been really moving to hear how people view the importance of the upcoming election and the work they will be doing in addition to voting. 

How have UVote and your research prepared you for your future endeavors? 

Working as a research assistant, I have learned so much about how to gather data, how to put that data and how to make that data mean something. I feel that I want to work in nonprofit fields and help people, whether that means in a political science field, like voting or along those lines, or just simple community activism. I think that working as a research assistant has helped me figure out many ways to help people. As a student, I am continuously learning, but I have learned so much since this job started in August. I have been able to learn how to independently work and be confident in myself and the work that I am producing, and that the work I am doing means something, especially in regards to bettering the environment for coworkers and their needs. 

Have you worked closely with a mentor, professor or role model who made your time at UMaine better, and if so, how? 

A lot of the work I have been doing has been with Rob Glover, and he has shown me that the work I am doing is going to get me somewhere and add value to his work. I struggled before with confidence and that I was doing work that would amount to something and not just doing an assignment. The work that I am doing is not necessarily a part of my degree, but it has definitely influenced my interest in a career in policy writing and changed the outlook I have when I do assignments. He has also helped me as a mentor with filling out applications, and he has invited me to attend a conference in Puerto Rico to discuss our findings for the Maine chapter of the national Scholars Strategy Network. Assisting in writing policy on this project has influenced my interest in future policy writing and how I view my future career path. Someone else who has influenced me is Taylor Ashley, who no longer works at UMaine, has impacted the work I have done at UMaine. Working for the Office for Diversity and Inclusion showed me that no matter what I was doing, it was making an impact on campus.

Story by news and social media intern Luke ONeil.

Contact: Marcus Wolf, 207.581.3721; marcus.wolf@maine.edu