ABOUT US
Mission
At Voting Matters we believe that the poll worker is, indeed, the vital link between the voter and the casting of his or her vote. Our mission is to provide them with the information, awareness and skills essential to the facilitating of the voting process that will, ultimately, help every single eligible American vote. And not only vote this time, in this election, but to have them enjoy the process so much that they want to return to the polls for every election. Accordingly, we are committed to providing the finest training for poll workers to better enable them to:
- Communicate effectively with all voters
- Insure that the voting process is easy and enjoyable for everyone
- Create the kind of environment that reduces the possibility of conflict
- Understand and meet the needs of voters with disabilities
Our goal is to make this training accessible and affordable to every county in every state.
Background
Voting Matters is a subsidiary of Linda Larsen Communications, Inc., a full service firm specializing in training programs that help people communicate more effectively and get desired outcomes both personally and professionally.
In 2001, Voting Matters produced a conflict management video training program for poll workers in the State of Florida. After presenting the video at a conference for the supervisors of elections in Florida, sixty-four of the sixty-seven counties in the State utilized the program and responded with rave reviews. Subsequently, the State of Florida contracted directly with Voting Matters to produce three more video training programs in order to insure that every county in the State would benefit from the type of training provided by the VM experts.
To date, Voting Matters has produced:
- Conflict Management Training Skills for Poll Workers – Volume I
- Conflict Management Training Skills for Poll Workers – Volume II
- Conflict Management Training Skills for Poll Workers – Volume III
- Conflict Management Training Skills for Poll Workers – Volume IV
- Help America Vote – Sensitivity to Voters with Disabilities– Volume I
- Help America Vote – Sensitivity to Voters with Disabilities– Volume II
Our staff brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the elections arena.
Staff
LINDA LARSEN
Linda Larsen. Linda is an award winning speaker, trainer and communications consultant, specializing in the area of conflict management and customer service. In the past 15 years Linda has presented over 2,000 presentations to hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S., Canada and Australia. She has written and published two books, two audio programs and over 100 articles. Linda is our head writer and is frequently featured as the narrator on our videos.
MILES LARSEN
With a Master’s Degree in Film and Television Production, Miles brings extensive experience to Voting Matters. He has won numerous awards for his directorial and editorial skills. He worked in LA for several years focusing primarily on television production, both commercial and industrial. His years of New York experience consisted mainly of post production, working on television shows such as Homicide, Oz, and Saturday Night Live; feature films like Jerry Maguire and Meet Joe Black, and commercials for Pepsi, McDonalds and many others. Miles also has several years experience as a news photographer, editor and writer with ABC Television. Miles is the senior director and editor for all Voting Matters’ projects.
JOHN SCALZI
John Scalzi: John is the director of the Voting Matters technology division. He manages and updates the Voting Matters website and continually investigates the newest available technology for VM training programs. John has been in television for over 20 years, the past 10 of which has been as an AMS meteorologist for an ABC station in Florida. In 2006 John was a winner of the prestigious AP award for a special piece he wrote, edited and narrated for WWSB-TV. He can be seen in several of our training programs, utilizing his background as a professional actor and extensive on-camera experience.