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Murphy – With the general election just two months away, the Cherokee County Board of Elections Office is starting to prepare who will be working at the 16 polling places across the county.
As the coronavirus continues to affect the elections process, Director of Elections Leighsa Jones said her office had a few regular poll workers who have decided not to work this year, but for the most part they are still good staffing-wise. About 35 percent of the county’s typical poll workers are ages 65 or older.
“We’ve got a pretty good variety,” Jones said.
To make up for those who do not wish to work, she said they have already had quite a bit of interest from people wanting to work. Each site usually needs 5-6 workers, but this year 7-8 are needed to help with sanitizing and line control.
A deadline hasn’t been set yet for applications, but it is expected to be the end of September, as all workers need to be trained before early voting begins. Depending on the job title, poll workers are typically paid $170-250 a day. The elections board tries to place workers in the precinct in which they live, but the law allows workers to work in other precincts.
The board of elections is working on the training schedule this week. Jones said the website cherokeecounty-nc.gov/274/Board-of-Elections should be updated with an application, plus training and deadline details, by next week. Those who wish to work may also contact the elections office at 837-6670 or contact their political party chair.
Jones said anyone not selected to work this year will be kept on a list to be contacted in the future if a need arises.
According to the Election Administration & Voting Survey, in 2018 about 58 percent of U.S. poll workers were ages 61 and older, with 27 percent over age 70.