Leo Lombardi Shares Valuable Internship Experience with the Virginia Department of Elections

(Photo Credit Leo Lombardi – Used with Permission)

Leo Lombardi, a Fall 2024 Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) graduate, shares his valuable experience securing an internship with the Virginia Department of Elections.

Leo, can you tell us a little bit about your internship?

This past summer I had the opportunity to work as an Election Services Program Intern for the Virginia Department of Elections. The Election Services Team within the agency acted as a central office, with each local office from all 133 of the Commonwealth’s localities reporting to us. We had several responsibilities, ranging from managing campaign finance compliance to reviewing the authenticity of petition signatures for candidates to gain ballot access.

My eight-week internship focused mainly on two projects. The first was managing the independent candidate ballot access drive for this year’s Presidential and Congressional elections. The code of Virginia specifies the number of petition signatures required for candidates to gain ballot access to the respective office they seek. I worked with candidates and their staffers to ensure they met this requirement.

The second project was to create a resource on Attorney General opinions for our team in collaboration with the policy division. I compiled opinions relevant to election law and our agency, summarized them, and input them into a centralized, online space for our team to reference.

How did you learn about this internship opportunity?

It was Senior Night for my high school soccer team back in May of 2021. The announcer read off the schools and majors that my fellow senior teammates and I would pursue that following fall. After our game, I was approached by a parent of one of my teammates, curious to know if I would be interested in an internship with the Department of Elections as a PPE major. That summer, I completed a part-time, six-week internship, giving me a look into state government and the ins and outs of how elections work.

What was the application process like?

I reached back out to my old supervisor last February to see if they had room for me to help out with the 2024 election cycle that summer. I sent them an updated resume and transcript, filled out some paperwork, and requested my start date. It was a pretty seamless process.

As an aside, I think transparency and realistic expectations are essential to navigating the internship application process. Otherwise, it can be frustrating. In my own experience and discussions with friends, internship and job leads seem to come more often from interpersonal connection, especially when you seek more than just employment – whether that be a pre-professional fraternity, social organization, sports club, etc.

What experience did you gain during your internship?

Patience and diligence. Government work can feel frivolous at times. That is not to say my internship was a waste or that I did not learn and develop, but I also was not overhauling American democracy and restoring faith in free and fair elections every single day. Plenty of my time was spent doing rather bureaucratic work. This work taught me to embrace each project, reminding me of the importance of public service to our Commonwealth, no matter how small my role or how menial the task. For several reasons, I found my internship experience valuable, and I think it will serve me well as I make my start in the working world.

How do you think the PPE Program at Virginia Tech prepared you for this internship?

The courses I have taken through the PPE major positioned me well to work in government, and more specifically, elections. Prof. Hankinson’s US Government & Politics course gave me the prerequisite understanding of elections, while Prof. Hersch’s PPE Gateway Course discussed several of the ethical concerns involved with different voting methods. Dr. Moore’s Constitutional Law courses gave me legal reading and writing experience, and Prof. Gibbs’ PPE Capstone Course tied it all together and taught me how to articulate it. I think the interdisciplinary nature of a PPE degree provided me with the versatility to be successful in my internship and beyond in other fields.

Is there any other information that you would like to provide to current or prospective PPE students?

To current PPE students, make the most out of your PPE Capstone Course. It is a course that rewards effort and can be a great opportunity to build a publishable writing sample. Shout out to Prof. Dan Gibbs for teaching my Spring 2024 PPE Capstone Course and teaching us how to write a proper research paper!

To prospective PPE students, I would emphasize the level of growth that the PPE major has afforded me. I came to Virginia Tech from a specialty high school program that roughly mirrored the PPE curriculum. Candidly, I was not sure whether I wanted to continue studying a PPE-related field or look elsewhere – I just knew I wanted to come to Virginia Tech. Now just a few weeks away from graduation, I can absolutely vouch for the PPE major and the postgraduation opportunities it offers.

For me, one of the most attractive features of the PPE major is its flexibility. You can tailor your degree to any topic or field you want to pursue post-graduation. Whether it is domestic politics, law, foreign policy, applied economics, or academia, PPE gives you options. As a Senior in high school and now as a Senior at Virginia Tech, the idea of having a multitude of options and flexibility in a constantly evolving job market was and still is quite appealing to me. 

As a PPE student, I have made massive improvements in my argumentative writing, analytical reading, and logical reasoning. As a job candidate and graduate school applicant, I have now a thorough resume and an applicable and diverse skillset. That is a testament to PPE at Virginia Tech, its curriculum, and its outstanding faculty.