Facebook is rolling out a new recruitment drive meant to help users in the U.S. sign up to become poll workers at voting stations. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the new effort today via a Facebook post and noted a "massive shortage of poll workers to staff voting stations".
Beginning this weekend, users over 18 years of age will see a message at the top of News Feed where they can view a button that lets them register as poll workers. The message will also be displayed on the poll worker section in the Voting Information Center, which was launched last month. In addition, the company will give paid time off to its employees who will volunteer as poll workers.
Facebook is also giving state election authorities free ad credits to recruit poll workers. Zuckerberg says California is already running these ads, with more states slated to join in the coming days.
The latest move is part of the social networking giant"s efforts to enable around four million people to take part in the U.S. elections in November. Earlier this month, it announced several measures to help protect the U.S. elections such as banning political ads in the week before the polls and more.