---
title: A New Way for Veterans to Serve on Election Day
date: 2026-10-22T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/a-new-way-for-veterans-to-serve-on-election-day"
section: Articles
---
# A New Way for Veterans to Serve on Election Day

*October 22, 2026* — by [Karen Shih ’09](/author/karen-shih)


> UMD Alum’s Vet the Vote initiative builds trust in the system by recruiting former military members and their families to become poll workers.

*Voting unsplash 1920x1080 — UMD's [Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement](https://cdce.umd.edu/feature/telling-voters-veterans-serve-poll-workers-can-increase-trust-15), in collaboration with UMD alum cofounded nonprofit We the Veterans, found that the most distrustful voters are 15% more likely to say they believe election results once they learn that veterans and family members were serving as poll workers. (Illustration via Unsplash)*

More than a decade after retiring from the Navy, Lauren Symmes found a new way to serve her country: setting up tables and signs, unlocking voting machines and handing out ballots at a local church for Election Day.

“I took an oath as an officer,” said Symmes, a three-time poll worker who lives in Anne Arundel County. “I’m still defending the Constitution, just in a different capacity.”

She first signed up after seeing a Facebook post about [Vet the Vote](https://www.vetthe.vote/) from a Naval Academy classmate, becoming one of nearly 170,000 veterans and military family members recruited through the initiative. That’s thanks to the efforts of Marine Corps veteran Ben Keiser '00, who launched the program in 2022 as part of the nonprofit he cofounded, [We the Veterans and Military Families](https://www.wetheveterans.us/).


*Three veterans stand together — Ben Keiser, left, with fellow veterans at a Vet the Vote event. (Photo courtesy of We the Veterans)*


*A woman at a computer in a polling center — Air Force veteran Christa Sperling, who helped create We the Veterans, working at a polling center. (Photo courtesy of We the Veterans)*


**Sidebar note:**

Oct. 22 is the first day of early voting in Maryland. Use [TerpsVote’s handy guide](https://terpsvote.umd.edu/how-vote?) to make a plan to cast your ballot.





**Topics:** [People](https://today.umd.edu/tags/people)


**Tags:** [2026 Elections](https://today.umd.edu/topic/2026-elections)


**Units:** [College of Behavioral and Social Sciences](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-behavioral-and-social-sciences)