ATLANTA — Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is asking Georgia veterans to serve once again -- but this time as poll workers.
"We understand veterans are the most trusted organization in America, our military forces,” Raffensperger said at a news conference on Tuesday. “What they've done is they've actually set aside the politics because they know people come from all over the country, all 50 states and our territories coming to serve together. And they build them into a cohesive, unified fighting force to protect us, to defend us.”
Dean Rakoskie, an United States Air Force veteran who served for 20 years, and Tony Dobbins, a United States Amy veteran who served for 21 years, agreed they believe recruiting veterans as poll workers is the right move.
“The veterans served to protect our way of life and part of our way of life, of course, is government by the people, said Rakoskie. “And we do that primarily through voting. So, having veterans and reaching out to them to encourage them to become poll workers, I think, is a fantastic idea.”
Rakoskie and Dobbins are both part of Veterans of Foreign Wars Department of Georgia.
“As an organization, Veterans of Foreign Wars, we’re non-partisan, so we’re not of political activity,” said Dobbins. "But when I take the cover off and be an individual, I think it’s important for us to interact politically in our system. That’s what we fought for.”
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Dobbins added they encourage veterans who are part of VFW to become poll workers as part of their civic duty.
“We have protected this country, and this is just another way we can do service, as we see it, to make sure people have the opportunity to vote,” he said.
Rakoskie did just that and started volunteering as a poll worker in 2022.
“I worked the 2022 election and the runoff and I’ve worked however many elections we’ve had this year," Rakoskie said, listing off more times he helped at the polls.
Rakoskie added working at the polls is also a nice way to connect with people who served or had family members serve.