Poll worker pay raise will 'absolutely' help recruitment, says election board secretary

Jul. 20—Oklahoma poll workers will receive double pay during future elections, thanks to a new state law.

Julie Dermody, secretary of the Rogers County Election Board, said this will "absolutely" help the election board recruit and retain poll workers.

"In November, a lot of people, they are dedicated to serving in this capacity," Dermody said. "Some of them, they take the day off from work, and so now it's going to be easier for them because they're not going to be losing money by taking a day off."

Three types of workers operate polling precincts in Oklahoma: inspectors, clerks and judges. Starting July 1, inspectors' daily pay will increase from $110 to $225, while clerks and judges will see their pay each day rise from $100 to $200.

The Oklahoma Legislature approved the doubling in 2023.

There are 38 polling precincts in Rogers County, Dermody said. Each needs at least one inspector, clerk and judge, and among them, there must be at least one Republican and one Democrat.

That means Rogers County needs 114 poll workers, at a minimum. But Dermody said high-volume elections like the November general often require multiple teams at several polls.

The election board has more than 200 fully trained poll workers, but Dermody said she needs more Democrats. Only about 19.5% of registered Rogers County voters are Democrats; 63.6% are Republicans.

Dermody said the election board sometimes has to shuffle its Democratic workers among the polling places during elections to ensure there's a Democrat at each one.

"If I could bring some more Democrats on, I would gladly get them trained, just to make it so we have more of a balance out there," Dermody said. "Our balance is pretty good for the most part, but if I have a couple of Democrats get sick, then I'm not as balanced as I was before."

Gerry Mooney, chair of the Rogers County Democrats, said he sees two factors making it difficult to recruit and retain poll workers.

The first is the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, he said, 40 or more people usually attended the Democrats' monthly meeting; now he counts 25 attendees as "doing really well." He said this translates into a general struggle "getting people to step up for almost everything," including working polls.

The other factor, he said, is that Democrats at his meetings say they're afraid to serve as poll workers because of threats made in the past few years against people facilitating elections.

Keara Mendez is a spokesperson for the Center of Tech and Civic Life, which she said is a nonpartisan nonprofit with the goal of "making the lives of election administrators easier."

Mendez said recruiting and retaining poll workers is a problem in nearly every community right now. Like Mooney, she cited the pandemic and the climate around election security as reasons.

"Folks are making a judgment call of, 'If I'm going to be in this for the money, is it really worth the ... stipend to potentially get into a political hot seat?'" Mendez said.

She said election administrators need to be creative to attract more poll workers.

Mendez said they can partner with organizations like We the Veterans, which is mobilizing veterans to serve as poll workers. They can capitalize on existing community structures like Atlantic County, New Jersey, which sources poll workers from local high schools. Finally, the election board can build relationships with other community organizations to find civic-minded people who can work the polls year after year.

Mendez said in efforts to recruit poll workers, election administrators should frame the job as a way to serve the community and gain professional skills.

Poll workers can only work in the county where they're registered to vote, Dermody said. Before they can work an election, prospective poll workers must complete a training. Dermody said Rogers County's next training is in September.

Voters will next return to the polls Aug. 27 for runoff elections; Sen. Blake "Cowboy" Stephens, R-Tahlequah, will face opponent Julie McIntosh in this election for Senate District 3.

The 2024 general election is Nov. 5. The District 3 Republican run-off winner will face Margaret Cook, an independent, in November.