Elections office needs workers for primary
WAYNESBURG – The Greene County Elections Office is looking for a few good people to work the polls on Election Day in the April primary.
The office in the last few years has had trouble finding enough people to work some of the polls and is now trying to get an early start in lining up workers for the coming April 26 primary, elections Director Tina Kiger said.
For the last election in November, elections office staff had to “cold-call” people from the list of registered voters to find enough people to fill the slots.
“We were down one whole precinct,” Kiger said. “We had to call people on the list until we got enough.”
In the old days, finding poll workers was not such a pressing concern.
“Before, many women stayed home and so they could work the polls on Election Day,” she said. “They knew it was important. For them, it was not a job, it was a duty.”
Kiger said she doesn’t doubt people today still recognize the importance of the elections process. However, “today, everybody works,” she said. Most people would have to take a day off work, maybe use a vacation day or personal day, just to work the polls on Election Day, she said.
Preparing for the coming primary, the elections office already mailed out letters to judges of election and to other people who may want serve as substitutes. Kiger urges anyone who may wish to serve to call her office at 724-852-5230.
Those interested have to be registered to vote in the county and though they should live in the precinct in which they will serve, they can also work, if needed, as substitutes in other precincts.
On Election Day, poll workers normally work from 6 a.m. to about 9 p.m. Judges and inspectors also must attend a two-hour class prior to the election.
The job pays. Judges of election are paid $120 to $125, depending on the number of voters at the precinct, plus $15 for attending the class, $20 for picking up supplies and $20 for returning supplies. Inspectors of election and clerks are paid $115 to $120 and receive $15 for attending the class.
At least four workers are needed at each poll: a judge, minority inspector, majority inspector and a clerk, which means twice each year the elections office has to make sure it has at least 176 people ready for Election Day.
The elections office has already scheduled classes for the coming election.
It will hold three sessions on April 11, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.; 2 to 4 p.m. and 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.; and two sessions on April 12, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
The classes are held at the county’s office building in Waynesburg and each worker must attend only one session.
Kiger also reminds voters the last day to register to vote is March 28; the last day to apply for a civilian absentee ballot is April 19 and the last day for the office to receive a civilian absentee ballot is April 22.
Anyone who plans to vote by absentee ballot should get a ballot as soon as possible, Kiger said. The returned ballots must be in the elections office by 5 p.m. April 22.
The election office, which normally closes at 4:30 p.m. each day, will stay open until 5 p.m. on March 28, April 19 and April 22.