How one Pennsylvania official is getting creative to combat voter apathy

NORRISTOWN, Pa. —Neil Makhija is on a mission.

As the county commissioner in charge of elections here in Pennsylvania’s Montgomery County, he is determined to get as many people out to vote in November as he can. It’s a big part of the reason he campaigned for the job.

“I’m probably one of the first people to run for a county commissioner seat in Pennsylvania because of the role of administering elections,” said Makhija, 37, a Democrat who took office in January and previously taught election law at the University of Pennsylvania.

“When this seat opened up, I thought this is a real place where we can make a difference, protect voting rights and really set the standard in Pennsylvania and for the country,” he added.

But to get more people to vote, Makhija realized he would need to get creative.

That’s why on a Thursday in April, Makhija had gathered 16 Montgomery County voters at the county commissioner’s office to present them with leather-bound certificates honoring a lifetime of civic duty.

It was the first Montgomery County Voter Hall of Fame.

After official county business wrapped, Makhija and his two fellow commissioners stood in front of the room’s imposing wooden desk to greet the honorees, who were found by combing through the county and state electoral records for voters who had cast ballots in the last 50 consecutive general elections. Makhija polled the room about how long they’d been voting. The oldest honoree had been voting since 1956.

“Anybody got 1956 beat? This is like an auction,” Makhija joked.

As a photographer captured the moments, the honorees posed at the front of the room with the commissioners and their new certificates.

The mood was celebratory, but the mission behind the ceremony was