Engaging students before they leave high school is crucial, Quinn stressed, because statistics show that those who miss voting in their first eligible election often wait until their late 20s or 30s to start participating regularly, if they participate at all.
“If young people aren’t voting, the political system doesn’t work for them,” he said. “But if they do, it brings more resources to them and their communities.”
The day’s most poignant moment came when Vilma Ray Pratt was honored for more than 50 years of service as a poll worker. Pratt, who began in the early 1970s, said she still works every election.
“Voting is important. I tell young people all the time ‘Your vote counts. Do not let anybody tell you it doesn’t,’” she said.
When Ray Pratt first started working elections, Richard Nixon was president, ballots were tallied by hand and Philadelphia’s polling places were filled with clipboards and stacks of paper.
Even before she was old enough to vote, Ray Pratt began helping her mother, a committee woman in South Philadelphia’s Tasker Homes projects, one of Philadelphia’s earliest public housing projects, knock on doors and pass out political literature.
“I started as a door knocker,” she recalled. “I would go around with my mother, knocking on doors, passing out literature. Then I started working the polls with her, and I’ve been doing it ever since.”
Ray Pratt has worked every phase of Election Day: checking voters in, guiding them to machines and making sure ballots are cast securely. For her, the biggest satisfaction comes from ensuring that her team — especially her senior colleagues — has everything they need. This November, Ray Pratt will once again take her place in a South Philadelphia polling place.
She appeared surprised to be receiving a commendation before the more than 100 people assembled at the event.
“It’s fantastic,” she said. “I never thought this day would come. We do what we do just to serve our community and our city, and to be recognized today — I’m so happy.”
She has seen seismic changes in elections — from paper ballots to digital machines, from handwritten poll books to electronic voter rolls. Yet the core of the work remains the same.
“Voting is so important because it lets us have a voice in the world today,” she said. “Poll workers help their communities and their city to grow. They make sure we get the things we need in our area.”
Ray Pratt is also a champion for younger poll workers, recruiting high school students and new voters to join her on Election Day. And she’s seen the results: more young voters showing up at the polls.
“I love having the younger ones. I go out and get them. That’s how we keep democracy alive,” she said. “That’s how we keep democracy alive.”
For Ray Pratt, the work is as much about community pride as civic duty. She still lives in South Philadelphia, within blocks of where she grew up, and she plans to keep serving as long as she can.
“I did my part,” she told the crowd. “And I hope everybody does theirs.”