County election officials across region gearing up for primary election
There are only 28 days until the spring primary election in Pennsylvania, and county election bureaus are busy getting ready to make sure the day runs smoothly.
Westmoreland County Elections Director Greg McCloskey and his office have been busy getting ready for several weeks.
“It’s been a hectic couple of weeks. This is the time we put our ballots together, we test all of our equipment, the voting machines, the ballot marking devices,” McCloskey said. “So, that process was going on through the end of this past weekend.”
Now, things are starting to ramp up.
On Tuesday, the county started training poll workers and elections judges on the rules for Election Day and teaching them what they need to do to make the day successful.
“We go over step-by-step everything a poll worker can expect when they arrive at a precinct at 6 a.m.,” McCloskey said.
McCloskey said Westmoreland County likes to have at least 1,400 poll workers on Election Night.
There are 307 voting precincts across Westmoreland County.
McCloskey tries to have between five to seven poll workers, including the election judges, at each location.
They have less than a dozen openings left to fill. They do still need more to fill the reserves.
“Every election, come Election Day, someone might be sick, their car might break down, they might not be able to make it to the poll,” McCloskey said. “So, we want to have a list of people on the bench who are willing to come in at a moment’s notice to come in and fill that position at a precinct.”
Channel 11 asked Allegheny County for their poll worker numbers for the upcoming primary election. As of Tuesday, the county has 5,655 confirmed poll workers, 1,249 of which are judges.
This includes about 60 student poll workers and 100 county employees.
McCloskey said the increased interest in working at the polls shows people really want to be a part of the election process.
“A lot of things changed after the 2020 election, and a lot more people want to get involved,” McCloskey said.
McCloskey said if you’re interested in being a poll worker for the primary election, there are applications on the county website.
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