Poll Worker Training
Before passage of the 2001 election reforms, the law provided little information about poll worker training. Nor did it require formal training.
The 2001 law requires a minimum number of training hours for each poll worker position. In addition, the topics to be taught are outlined in the election code.
But by and large, some counties, especially the smaller ones, appear to struggle with poll worker recruitment and training.
Putnam County, for example, found that recruiting high school students to work the polls was not a good idea.
The students either did not show up for their training, or if they did, they did not follow procedures. When the county advertised poll worker positions at a local college, the response was maybe one or two students a year.
"No one really wants to take the time to be a poll worker," Putnam County elections officials said. "Or the pay is not worth the hours."
Poll worker training is critical, said Wilcox.
"When people go to vote, a lot of times, if they are going to experience problems, it may be due to a lack of training for the people who are staffing the polls," he said.
Each polling place has several workers: the clerk, who supervises, troubleshoots and deals with irate voters; inspectors, who make sure citizens are checked in properly, issue ballots and stand at ballot scanners; equipment workers, who tend to the machines; and poll deputies, who are assigned by the sheriff to provide security.
Poll workers are paid from $100 to $250 for the day, which can run more than 14 hours, and are paid at about minimum wage to attend a pre-election training session, which, according to state law, must run at least three hours.
Something that has worked for several counties is Adopt-a-Precinct, a program created by Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles.
The program entails hiring organizations like the Kiwanis Club, student government leaders from nearby colleges, and fraternity and sorority alumni groups, to work polling stations.
Members of these nonprofit organizations log community service hours, and the money that what would have otherwise been paid to an individual goes instead to the organization. The volunteers undergo training just like any other poll worker.
In 2010, Cowles’ office paid about $215,000 to more than 80 organizations that manned 88 of the county’s 262 precincts.
The advantages of having these groups work the polls are numerous, he said.
- The precinct workers already know each other, so there’s no need to build team unity.
- They already know who their natural leader is, so that person will be tapped to be the poll clerk.
- They tend to be younger, and in many cases, professionals
- Many are technologically savvy
"One of the beauties of this program is you get a group interested and they go out and do the recruiting for us," said Cowles, whose idea is being tried in at least three other counties. "And they look at it as, every year they don’t have to worry about fundraising for their clubs.”
State elections officials did not track spending on poll worker training before 2000. That is now a requirement.
In 2008, counties reported spending $702,000 for poll worker training.
In 2010 they spent $866,000.
