Commissioners turn to state legislators for help to pay poll workers more

MILLERSBURG − The Holmes County commissioners sought help from area lawmakers in Columbus to help incentivize working the polls at local elections.

State Sen. Andrew Brenner and state Rep. Darrell Kick were in Millersburg on Monday to discuss concerns about ample remuneration and other possible solutions for poll workers during county elections.

Commissioner Joe Miller believes the law regarding paying poll workers is very outdated. He asked the state officials what can be done to make it more attractive for poll workers.

Brenner noted that this is not a new problem, as it is a common problem all over the state.

Poll workers pay

Commissioner Dave Hall explained that there is a low base pay for what a poll worker earns, ($133.72 for 15 hours) and he was looking to see if there is something lawmakers can do to give local boards of commissioners the discretion to pay poll workers at a higher level, to make taking a day off to work the election more worthwhile for people.

Holmes County Board of Elections Director Lisa Welch said she'd like to see the pay rate go from the federal minimum wage of $7.25 to at least the state minimum wage of $10.10 an hour.

"It's hard to recruit when you're putting in a day that starts at 5 in the morning, and you go till 10 at night for the federal minimum wage," Hall said.

Incentivize working the polls

Hall said working the polls needs to be incentivized to try and get more young people involved.

The minimum age for a poll worker is 17 years old, and he suggested possibly giving school credits for working an election.

Caleb Pearce, a representative from Secretary of State Frank LaRose's office, noted that most civics teachers or high school history teachers give students who serve as poll workers extra credit for their classes.

Miller added that in order to get more younger people involved, it has to be attractive financially for them.

Board of Elections Board Member Wes Schmucker noted that once they get started, they will continue.

"I think a lot of the older people who work the polls see it as their patriotic duty, mission work in a sense," he said. "It's time for a change to pay people more."

Who works the polls

Welch pointed out that about 76 poll workers are used for an average election in Holmes County, with 68 being the absolute minimum amount of workers they need. About 65 percent of the poll workers locally are over the age of 70, and when Covid happened, it reduced the number of older poll workers available.

"But it's hard to get younger poll workers because they have other commitments and they don't want to take the day off work to come and sit and work (a 15-hour) day," she said. "We just have a harder time getting younger workers, and the older ones don't want to work because of health concerns.

Sen. Brenner asked what the percentage of in-person voters is in Holmes County.

Welch estimates about 30 percent of the local voters participate in early or absentee voting and about 70 percent are voting in person at the polls.

"I'm telling you from experience that I am dealing with health issues from the stress and the hours," Welch said. "I know everybody else is, too. You can only do so much for so long."

Miller asked what can be done to make it better. "Our greatest privilege in America is voting, and we don't want to make it impossible for people to work there," he said. "We need to fix this."

Rep. Kick asked if raising the wage would be enough incentive to get people to be poll workers.

"You volunteer because you want to help with the election," Holmes County Board of Elections Deputy Director Sarah Elvey said. "The money is a nice benefit, but that's not the only reason people work.

"Speaking as someone who served as a poll worker, it's hard to work a regular day before an election, then work a 15-hour day and get home at 10 at night, then turn around and go back to work at 8 o'clock the next morning," Elvey continued. "I think that's a lot to ask of people who are working, and I think that's why we see mostly retired folks or part-time workers."

Thanks for putting the meeting together

Board member Mark Baserman thanked the commissioners for arranging the meeting with the state legislators.

"I hear a lot of empty promises made by politicians, but you guys made a promise and you kept it. You followed through, and I appreciate it."

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Poll workers badly underpaid - how is Holmes County dealing with it?