Delaware County’s Board of Elections is looking for registered Delaware County voters to be poll workers for the May 8 primary election. The county consists of 159 voting precincts, which are spread out over 48 voting locations.
Four years ago in the 2014 gubernatorial primary election, 13.25 percent of the registered voters in Delaware County, 15,727 out of 118,688, turned out to vote.
In a report last week, Delaware County Board of Elections Director Karla Herron said that in “round numbers, the county has 138,000 register voters” currently.
According to Ali Solove, elections support specialist, by statute, the board is required to provide 754 poll workers for elections but usually employs well beyond the required number to help maintain shorter lines, getting voters in and out as quickly as possible on election day.
“We have people that have been poll workers for years,” she said.
However, Solove said workers retire or move away from the area, creating some turnover, and the board is always looking for ways to replenish the numbers.
To help with the replenishment, the board takes advantage of “Delaware for Democracy,” a program sponsored by Delaware County. According to Solove, the program allows county employees to work the polls on Election Day, instead of their daily jobs.
Solove said the board also recruits high school seniors to help at the polls on election days.
“The keywords are they have to be seniors and 17 (years of age),” she said.
Solove added poll workers are paid for their service on election day.
“The average base pay for a worker is $150,” she said.
In the past, the board has pitched the idea of charitable organizations working the polls and then the members donating their earnings back to the organization.
For more information, contact the Delaware County Board of Elections, 2079 U.S. Route 23, Delaware, by phone at 740-833-2080 or by email at [email protected].
As for turning away volunteers if they have more than needed, it won’t happen. “We don’t usually turn anyone away,” Herron said in a previous report.
