By MARGERY A. BECK, Associated Press

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Americans are encouraged to do their duty and vote Election day. But in Nebraska, some residents must go a step further: They are required to help organize elections.

Nebraska is the only U.S. state that employs mandatory election duty to recruit precinct poll workers, election office aides and ballot deliverers, among other tasks, according to the National Conference of State Legislators. Anyone who ignores a citation could be charged with a misdemeanor and fined up to $100.

Twenty years ago, Dawn O’Brien was busy teaching and taking children to school and practicing when she received a letter informing her that she had been selected for office. By then, I had lived in Omaha for about 25 years and had never heard of mandatory election duty.

“I was surprised,” he recalled. “I remember thinking, ‘Wow, how am I going to juggle this?'”

But like many Nebraskans recruited for the position, O’Brien came away with a new appreciation for civic service. She now volunteers to work most elections.

“I learned a lot about what it takes to achieve free and fair elections,” he said. “It’s a huge effort to do this and do it well.”

So far, only Douglas and Sarpy counties, among the state’s most populous in the Omaha metropolitan area, use the draft. That’s because with nearly 500,000 of the state’s 1.25 million registered voters in those two counties, they need thousands of workers to help at hundreds of polling places.

Finding all that help, especially at a time when poll workers face threats and security concerns, can be a challenge, said Douglas County Election Commission Brian Kruse. For the next election, Douglas will employ about 3,000 poll workers, 45% of whom are recruited.

While other states rely on election officials to recruit workers, and some turn to churches or community civic organizations to recruit volunteers, Nebraska’s system works much like jury duty: Registered voters are randomly selected to serve the jury. election day. State law allows exemptions for anyone age 70 or older, those with documented health problems or other reasons deemed acceptable. It also allows those with young children to defer service until the children are older.

The only other way to get out of electoral duty?

“You have to remove yourself from the voter registration rolls,” Kruse said. “Most people don’t want to go down that path.”

Unlike jury duty, those selected for Nebraska’s draft elections are not only required to work in the upcoming elections. They are in trouble for four elections.