Jessica Huseman for Votebeat:

The vast majority of America’s local election administrators would not encourage their children to do the same job, and a shrinking share of them say they would be proud to tell others about their work.

The findings come from a survey conducted every federal election year by the Elections & Voting Information Center, an academic research group. While it contains small bright spots — election administrators largely find the job personally rewarding, for example — the number willing to encourage their children to follow in their footsteps has decreased by nearly half in the past two election cycles. In 2020, 41% said they would do so. In 2024, that number dropped to 22%.

The full survey results will be released next week. The survey was fielded from early August to late October.

The negative outlook on election work continues a trend researchers say they began observing in 2020, when increasing scrutiny, threats, and misinformation fanned by supporters of President Donald Trump began reshaping the profession. Public confidence in elections hit new highs after the November 2024 presidential election — which had a clear outcome despite narrow margins — but election administrators are still pessimistic…..