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Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pa. is the last state to elect poll workers. Local officials say they're short 1000s of candidates.
This article is made possible through Spotlight PA's collaboration with Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting. Sign up for Votebeat's free newsletters here. Pennsylvania voters went to the polls last week to help carry on a centuries-old practice that no other state does: elections to choose their election workers. 'It was a great idea in the 1800s that they never got rid of,' said Thad Hall, Mercer County's election director, who just oversaw a primary to select the Democratic and Republican candidates for more than 150 poll worker positions. Counties are still finalizing the results from the May 20 election. The counting includes the slow process of tabulating write-in votes, as many races don't have candidates listed on the ballot. In Mercer County, roughly 50% of the positions did not have a nominated candidate, Hall said, and he suspects 'a lot' of his open positions won't have a candidate on the ballot in November, either. There are over 9,000 voting precincts in the state, and each has three positions that need to be elected: a judge of election, and a majority and minority inspector. That means every four years, the state needs to elect more than 27,000 workers. Rarely are there enough candidates to compete in all those races. Hall said people have been known to write in their friends or family members as a joke, and those people end up winning — sometimes with just a single vote. 'You email people and they're like, 'Are you serious? Are you kidding?' And then they've got to decide if they want to do it,' he said. 'People think you're pulling their leg, because someone was pulling their leg in the first place.' Historians say Pennsylvania has been electing poll workers since 1799. According to data from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, it's the only state in the country that directly elects the poll workers who run voting precincts. Most states choose them through appointment. And in Pennsylvania, if no candidate is elected in November, or the elected candidate resigns, county election directors are permitted to appoint someone to the position. Some New England states elect town officials who oversee voting locations as part of their job, but they don't necessarily elect workers for every precinct, instead hiring or appointing additional people. Most states have adopted an appointment system. The last state to do away with the practice of electing election workers was Rhode Island, in 2009. Former Rhode Island state Rep. Michael Marcello, a Democrat, wrote the bill that ended those elections. He said at the time that the change would prevent these positions from being politicized. But co-sponsor Scott Pollard, also a Democrat, recalled that there was also a more practical reason: 'We were having tremendous difficulty actually getting people to put their name on a ballot to run.' One deterrent, Pollard said, was that would-be poll workers in Rhode Island were required to file the financial forms that political candidates often have to submit to disclose any potential financial conflicts of interest. 'People are willing to do community service,' he said, 'but you can't make them jump through too many hoops to do it.' In Pennsylvania, poll worker candidates don't have to file statements of financial interest, but there are other hoops they have to jump through. As in Rhode Island, poll workers here run as partisans in the primary. To get on the primary ballot, they have to file nomination petitions, signed by enough local voters. A candidate for election judge, who oversees the voting precinct, must obtain signatures from 10 qualified voters. A candidate for inspector, who signs in voters and checks their registrations among other tasks, must get five signatures to qualify. Jay Schneider, a Chester County resident who served as an appointed judge in his precinct for the 2024 election, told Votebeat and Spotlight PA in March that these hurdles were part of the reason he chose not to run for the position this year. But not getting on the primary ballot isn't necessarily a barrier, given the lack of demand for the job. Hall, from Mercer County, said the kind of all-appointment system that most states use would help election directors. It would make it easier to move workers around if there are personality conflicts, and to remove problematic workers if needed. Additionally, it would save them the logistical burden of having hundreds of extra positions on their ballots. Jeff Greenburg, a former election director who now works for the good-government group Committee of Seventy, said that switching to an all-appointment system may solve some of the administrative problems with electing poll workers, but he wants to see more solid evidence that the switch would fix the bigger issue of poll worker shortages. Pennsylvania election officials, like many elsewhere, have struggled to keep their precincts fully staffed in recent years. 'As one person said, 'We just want someone who's breathing,'' said Devin Rhoads, Snyder County's election director. Rhoads argues that electing poll workers has benefits, too, such as imbuing the positions with an added sense of responsibility. 'If a person is elected, it carries more weight,' Rhoads said, adding that those workers will have the mindset of, 'Well, l signed up for this.' 'If you're appointed, maybe it kind of gives you a little bit of wiggle room, like, 'Well, I was just appointed, I can get out of it,'' he said. The catch in this logic is that people actually have to be willing to run for the poll worker positions. And in many places, they aren't. Rhoads estimates that roughly two-thirds of Snyder County's election worker positions won't have candidates on the ballot in the fall municipal election, meaning some workers will need to be appointed. In Allegheny County, home to Pittsburgh, officials say 3,500 of the roughly 4,000 elected poll worker positions on the November ballot will lack a candidate. 'People don't want to run for these positions,' said Abigail Gardner, a county spokesperson. Formally switching from an elected to an appointed poll worker system would require state legislation. Short of that, there are other things the state could do to help recruit poll workers. First, Greenburg said, counties should increase pay. The state's Election Code currently sets minimum pay at $75 for the day. But a poll worker's day is usually at least 13 hours, which works out to an hourly rate that's less than minimum wage. A bill that recently passed the state House would increase that minimum to $175, but many counties are already moving beyond that. Philadelphia offered $295 for workers in the May 20 primary. Greenberg also thinks the process for getting on the ballot should be simplified. Instead of collecting signatures on a nominating petition, he said, it could be enough for a candidate to sign an affidavit affirming that they are qualified to run for the office. Carter Walker is a reporter for Votebeat in partnership with Spotlight PA. Contact Carter at cwalker@ If you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to Spotlight PA at Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Local races in Pa.'s primary election could add excitement
(WKBN) – Some contested races could add excitement to the Pennsylvania primary Tuesday. Mercer County will oversee elections in 47 cities, boroughs and townships. Fourteen school districts will be electing school board members. Hermitage has a competitive Republican primary to be a city commissioner. Coolspring Township has two supervisor races, which have been spirited campaigns. The polls will be open for thirteen hours, and there's a regular group that prefers to be there when the voting begins. 'We have people who just love to go at 7 a.m., and it's always that way. We always have this opening burst of excitement, and by the afternoon, it's a trickle. Sometimes people wait in the morning when if they just come in the afternoon, everything will be a lot slower,' said Thad Hall, Mercer County elections director. There are also 4,000 who request mail-in ballots every election in Mercer County, and their median age is 72. They want to vote by mail, in case something were to prevent them from reaching the polls. Pennsylvania voters have until 8 p.m. on Election Day, May 20, to return their mail ballot to their county board of elections. If you still have a ballot, you're recommended to return it in person and not place it in the mail. Voters who requested a mail ballot but either did not receive it or do not have it may vote by provisional ballot at their polling place on May 20. Voters may return only their own mail ballot unless the voter has a disability and designates someone in writing to return it for them or the voter requires an emergency absentee ballot. Pennsylvania's primary elections are a 'closed election,' meaning only registered Republicans and Democrats can vote for candidates in their own party. Third-party voters can only participate if there is a constitutional amendment question, a ballot question, or a special election. There are 7,437,300 registered Republicans and Democrats in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Primary is Tuesday, May 20. Voting is from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. You do not need a Real ID to vote in this primary. Only first-time voters or voters in a new location need an ID. George Stockburger contributed to this report Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Advocacy groups offer training for Pa. primary poll watchers
Thad Hall, the election director in Mercer County, Pa., trains county poll workers on Sept. 30. (Caitlin Dewey/Stateline) The Committee of Seventy and the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania are partnering to hold virtual training sessions for poll workers and watchers in the May primary. Both groups are non-partisan advocacy groups that encourage democratic participation in Pennsylvania. The sessions include a basic 101 for people who would like to volunteer, as well as specialized courses on poll watching, using Philadelphia's e-poll books, and de-escalation training. 'Just because it's not a presidential election year doesn't mean the need for poll workers is any less urgent,' Lauren Cristella, president and CEO of the Committee of Seventy, said in a statement. 'Every election, we rely on more than 45,000 Pennsylvanians to help our democracy function. These information sessions are about making sure those who step up are ready to serve their communities with clarity and purpose. Poll workers are essential to maintaining access, fairness, and trust in our elections, no matter what's on the ballot.' A press release from the Committee of Seventy said the training is intended to complement what is offered by county officials across the commonwealth. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Schedules and sign-up links can be found on the the group's website. The training sessions run through May 19. The primary is set for May 20. Pennsylvanians who would like to become poll workers can fill out an interest form on the Pennsylvania State Department's website. Poll workers are generally required to be registered to vote in the county where they volunteer, with some exceptions for 17-year-old high school students who aren't old enough to cast a ballot. People who want to volunteer can also contact their local elections office after filling out an interest form.
