While scrolling on social media profiles like Main Street Kent, individuals may come across a post about the Portage County Board of Elections encouraging individuals to apply to become poll workers.
Faith Lyon, the director of the Portage County Board of Elections, said these posts are intentional as the board of elections is always searching for poll workers.
With the upcoming presidential election in November, she said the board of elections may add poll workers at larger precinct locations to help with crowd control.
“Every precinct has four precinct election officials, we have 128 precincts,” Lyon said. “So, we have to have no less than 512 workers and of those workers half of them are Democrats and half of them are Republicans.”
In addition to the 512 poll workers, the board of elections also recruits 50 to 60 individuals for each political party, she said.
“Because last minute illnesses, emergencies, worker obligations can come up, we always need individuals that can work on a short notice for us on election day,” Lyon said.
To apply to be a poll worker, individuals need to be a citizen over the age of 18, or a 17-year-old citizen currently attending high school, she said.
For those who want to be a poll worker for Portage County, Lyon said they must live in the county.
Other requirements include not being a candidate, a face of an issue group and having not previously been convicted of a felony offense, Lyon said.
“If there’s a school levy on the ballot or you’re somebody who is running that school levy issue, or being the spokesperson for that,” she said, “we ask you to refrain from that because we don’t want you to be a view of conflict.”
Lyon said the board of elections recommends people apply before September because new poll workers will start their training that month.
The training, which will take place until the second week of October, is a three-hour course with hands-on training for individuals to learn about the equipment they will be using and the ballots, she said.
“Basically, it’s an elections 101. Everything you need to know about elections,” she said.
Jackie Peck, a vice president of the League of Women Voters of Kent and an alternate poll worker, said the training made her prepared to work an election.
“[The training] is absolutely excellent. We are given an overview, we walk through setting up the poll pads,” Peck said. “We walk through examples … these are not real people but example voters who come through.”
Since Democratic and Republican poll workers are paired together to ensure the integrity of the election, Peck said these pairings lead to the best bipartisan work.
“What I have so appreciated is the kindness that all [of] these poll workers extend to all the voters,” she said. “That is without expectation, people are welcomed, they are helped, they are held to the law.”
From her experience, Peck said her fellow poll workers surprised her with their ability to look beyond their political parties and get to know each other.
“This is how I envision democracy should be, not what we have in the public media … mass media, it’s not that,” she said.
Peck said she thinks it would be beneficial for younger individuals to apply so they can understand the importance of voting.
“Just observing … it’s not how they’re voting because we never see that. It’s the act of voting,” she said. “There are young parents that come in with their kids, so [younger people are] getting a taste of what citizens do.”
For those unsure on applying to be a poll worker, Peck said she was hesitant to be a poll worker because of the long work day, but realized the importance of allowing individuals access to vote.
“If we don’t have enough poll workers, the polls can’t be opened because you have to have one of each,” she said.
Adriana Gasiewski is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].
