Washington County looking for additional poll workers for election
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MARIETTA - The Washington County Board of Elections is still looking for a number of poll workers to deal with the expected turnout on Election Day.
Director of the Washington County Board of Elections Mandy Amos said they were still looking for additional poll workers for the upcoming election.
"The Secretary of State's Office wanted us to have extra poll workers for this election because we think the turnout will be high this election," she said. "We wanted to be sure we had enough poll workers."
There was a calculation from the state they were using to be sure they would have enough additional poll workers to do the expected job, said deputy director Melissa Saltzwedel, who handles poll workers.
"All those poll workers may not work this time as we don't want to crowd the (voting) location," she said. "A lot of those will be substitutes as if someone calls off or has to call in sick on election morning.
"You don't want to bring that in and spread it around to others. That is the reason why they want us to have so many extras."
Usually, they have around 115 poll workers conducting the elections at nine polling locations across the county that cover 50 precincts. If they are going to have the anticipated larger voter turnout they would need more people to assign to the polling locations.
Saltzwedel said they are looking at having 48 more poll workers ready for Election Day.
"They can be Democrat or Republican or unaffiliated," she said.
They have 184 people signed up, but those numbers can fluctuate for a variety of reasons from illness to family emergencies and more, Amos said.
They will have training sessions Monday and Tuesday with others planned depending on the number of volunteers they get. People would report to the Washington County Board of Elections Office at 204 Davis Ave. Suite B in Marietta.
Volunteers are paid $20 for the training session. They are paid $113 for being a poll worker on Election Day. There is an online training that is not required, but that pays an extra $20.
With America celebrating its 250th anniversary it would be the perfect time for people to get out and serve their community and show their patriotism, Amos said.
On Election Day, poll workers work from 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m..
They have to get machines on and post signs as well as what is expected of them on Election Day which is covered during training.
Both Amos and Saltzwedel said being a poll worker is an important way for people to be able to serve their communities.
"We couldn't have an election without our poll workers," Saltzwedel said.
"There would be no way we would be able to handle everyone with just the staff in our office," Amos added. "We honestly could not do it without our poll workers"
If people have questions about being a poll worker or wanting to volunteer they can call 740-374-6828.