This year is shaping up to be among the most consequential in history, with a presidential election that will be one for the ages.
But voters on Nov. 5 will also have local elections in which to vote, known as down-ballot races. They are as important to their respective communities as the presidential vote. It is the mayors, council people and other municipal officials who will be elected that really matter to people’s lives.
But poll worker numbers are shrinking. NBC News recently reported on a study released in March by the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, D.C., that shows election workers nationwide are leaving their jobs at a rate that is at its highest in decades.
“While the turnover rate has jumped in recent years, researchers found that it has been gradually rising for years,” the NBC story reported, “suggesting that both new and long-standing challenges are driving (poll workers) from their jobs.”
The Bipartisan Policy Center survey concluded that numbers in 2020 and 2022 represented the highest four-year turnover rates for election workers in two decades for jobs that involve extensive training and leave no room for error.
One of the reasons cited for the shortage has to do with presidential politics. Since Donald Trump lost reelection in 2020 in what he still insists was a rigged vote, the study shows, poll workers have had to deal with “unprecedented scrutiny, threats and harassment.” There are other reasons, too, including technological changes that have made the role more complex and an older workforce approaching retirement age.
The challenge has in some cases been met with pay increases for poll workers, including in New Jersey. (It should be noted that some local poll workers are volunteers.) In advance of the 2024 primary election in June, the state announced that pay for election workers would be $21.43 per hour on in-person, early-voting days and $300 on the day of the vote.
“Poll workers play a vital role in our election process,” said Lt. Governor Tahesha Way. “Each year, we need our New Jersey citizens to be a part of our great democracy to serve their community and our state by working at a polling location. Poll workers help our elections run smoothly.”
Counties in South Jersey need poll worker help, too. Camden County recently advertised openings for workers – including those who are bilingual – in Camden City, Pennsauken and Woodlynne. Burlington County announced before the June primary that it needs workers to oversee new electronic voting machines.
Meanwhile, the shortage is hurting all over.
“Increasing turnover is not confined to one geographic region or due to a state- or region-specific cause,” the Bipartisan Policy Center warns, “but rather is happening across all parts of the country. This situation calls for nationwide solutions that focus on addressing both the chronic and emerging roots of turnover to build a resilient workforce in the long term.”
For more on the center’s study, visit https://bipartisanpolicy.org.
To apply as an election worker in New Jersey, go to Pollworker.NJ.Gov or call the Voter Information and Assistance Line at (877) NJ-Voter (658-6837).
