In early April, Wisconsin voters turned out to vote in their elections, even as our new pandemic reality set in. Many navigated long, socially distanced lines — standing six feet apart for hours as they made their way to cast their ballots. Why did this happen? One crucial reason is because poll workers were in short supply, which led to a dramatic consolidation of polling places.

Thanks to Gov. Janet Mills, who wisely delayed Maine’s summer primary from June 9 to July 14, we have time for our public health situation to improve. However, we don’t know what the status of viral spread will be in July. And as a result, we must relieve our usual poll workers of the need to come into high-traffic polling places to help others register and vote.

Having well-staffed polls is essential, even as most voters will likely cast their votes by mail-in ballots this summer. Without poll workers, towns must consolidate polling places, with more voters crowding into fewer spaces. Less staff also means slower voting with longer lines — and increased opportunities for viral spread.

In Wisconsin last month, 1.1 million voters requested absentee ballots out of the 1.55 million people who voted. For the minority of in-person voters, a poll worker shortage led to a severe reduction in polling places — for example, five in Milwaukee, down from the usual 180 — and so the hundreds of thousands of non-mail voters were stranded on long lines. Scores of COVID-19 cases are now being attributed to that in-person voting.

We can avoid this in Maine, but it is a challenge we must face together. Sixty percent of Maine’s poll workers are currently 60 years of age or older — the demographic group most vulnerable to COVID-19. These workers are already reporting to the town clerks (who train and manage them) that they are unlikely to show up this summer due to health concerns. Lewiston City Clerk Kathy Montejo recently said in an interview that one town clerk “called every single one of her election workers,” but, given COVID-19, “none of them are willing to work at the polls.”

These concerns are valid, and these longtime public servants deserve to be relieved of this duty. As generations before have done throughout our nation’s history, a new generation of Maine people can rise to the occasion of this crisis: they can raise their hands, rise up, and work the polls.

College students in particular can fill this crucial (and paid) role. All it takes is committing to a simple training and a shift on Election Day, but the benefits are incalculable.

This crisis is a chance for younger Maine people to help their more vulnerable neighbors by letting them stay home, support a robust democracy by ensuring staffing of the polls, and have an exciting experience of civic engagement.

Why are we opening the polls at all? While most voting this summer will likely happen by mail-in absentee ballots, it is critical that Maine’s elections still have in-person voting. Polling places open on Election Day provide essential ballot access, especially for marginalized voting communities — people of color, new Mainers, younger voters and disabled voters. And they are needed for same-day registration — a touchstone of Maine’s democracy.

The Maine Democratic Party is working to help clerks across the state in their poll worker recruitment. But this effort is not a partisan one: applicants from any political party (or no party) are welcome. Well-staffed polling places will be needed for all Maine voters, whether they are casting a ballot in the statewide Democratic U.S. Senate primary, the Republican primary in the Second Congressional District, or state legislative primaries in both parties in districts from York to Aroostook.

Maine law requires a balance of party members while permitting up to half of election clerks to be unenrolled in a party. To be an election clerk in Maine, all that’s required is to be 18 or older by Nov. 3 and be registered to vote in the state. Whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Green, or not in a party, you have a vital role to play in supporting elections for all voters.

Additionally, election clerks can work in any municipality in their county. Even if your town is fully staffed, there will likely be another one nearby that could use an extra set of hands to check voters in, distribute ballots, register new voters, and otherwise facilitate a smooth election.

Maine people shouldn’t need to choose between their health and the vote — and you can help ensure that no one has to face that choice.

Ryder Kessler is the Maine Democratic Party Voter Protection director.