Why celebrities, big corporations and Barack Obama want you to be a poll worker

Taylor, a college professor, is one of hundreds of thousands of Americans planning to volunteer as poll workers for the first time in hopes of mitigating a massive nationwide shortage.

While many states are expanding mail voting capacity to try to keep voters from congregating at the polls, in-person elections are still being planned, and poll workers are in even higher demand than usual.

"Since I'm still sort of young — at least in a less vulnerable group — I thought this is a way I can get out there and actually help, instead of feeling helpless," Taylor said, adding that he's been encouraging friends and co-workers to volunteer, as well.

A group of organizations, including the Civic Alliance, a nonpartisan group of businesses, and the Fair Elections Center, a nonpartisan voting rights organization, teamed up with major corporations, including ViacomCBS, Patagonia and Uber, to form Power the Polls, an initiative that set out to recruit 250,000 poll workers to staff in-person voting and is encouraging employers to pay employees who volunteer.

“There’s definitely going to be some vibe change, and Power the Polls is going to be part of that,” said Scott Duncombe, co-director of Power the Polls, pointing to the new recruits, many of whom are expected to be younger than the average poll worker.

Meanwhile, to raise awareness of the critical shortage of poll workers election officials have said they are facing during the pandemic, the Election Assistance Commission designated Sept.

More Than a Vote, a group of artists and athletes led by NBA star LeBron James that aims to fight voter suppression, has teamed up with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund for a multimillion-dollar push to recruit poll workers, too.

In an interview with NBC News' "TODAY" show, pro basketball player Renee Montgomery, a More Than a Vote member, argued that the shortage of poll workers would create voter suppression.

These efforts aren't isolated: A group of high school and college students created the Poll Hero Project, a nationwide group that aims to recruit young people to work the polls, while officials in Nebraska and Ohio are offering continuing education credits for accountants and attorneys who volunteer as poll workers, too