Politics & Government

HuffPo: Union County Clerk Pushes Increased Voter Education

Union County's own Joanne Rajoppi gets the spotlight on Huffington Post.

Voter education is a top concern heading into the presidential election for the newly elected president of an international organization of election officials.

, the county clerk of Union County, N.J., who was elected president of the International Association of Clerks, Recorders, Election Officials and Treasurers, indicated that she and the group are prepared to enforce new election laws nationwide along with promoting ways to increase voter turnout. While turnout in presidential races is high, Rajoppi said, there is a drop-off in elections for other offices on the same ballot or other types of elections.

"We really fall down on that in the U.S.," Rajoppi told HuffPost. "We don't do enough voter education. You can see that in the results. Someone has to take up the cause in this country. They stand in line for hours to vote in other countries."

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She and other U.S. election officials have been studying programs used in other countries to promote education, in addition to ways to use the association's resources. Part of this includes more voter education in schools to get children interested in the voting process. Rajoppi, who was elected county clerk in 1995 after 12 years as Union County register of deeds and mortgages, pointed to a law in New Jersey that allows teens to work part time at polling places on election day. She said that involves youth in the process while filling election worker spots typically held by retirees.

Read the full story on Huffington Post here.

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