LOOKING FOR POLL WORKERS
Boards of elections are frequently looking for poll workers. Those interested in becoming a poll worker in any election can receive more information online at PEOinOhio.com.
In Butler County, contact the board of elections at 513-887-3700 or visit www.butlercountyelections.org.
In Warren County, contact the board of elections at 513-695-1358 or visit www.warrencountyboe.us.
As the Ohio Secretary of State prepares for the Nov. 8 general election, Jon Husted's office will release $760,000 to be proportionately split among the state's 88 counties to offset some of the cost of mandatory poll worker training.
Butler County is set to receive $23,892.16, while Warren County is set to receive $14,785.16.
Butler County will spend nearly $200,000 on poll worker training this year, which includes the March primary and November general election. This funding will offset Butler County’s training costs this year by about 8.5 percent, said Butler County Board of Elections Deputy Director Jocelyn Bucaro.”
“This includes what we pay our poll workers to attend training and what we spend on trainers,” she said.
For Warren County, the funding is well over half the amount needed, said county elections director Brian Sleeth.
“It’s pretty important,” said Sleeth. “There’s been changes since the last election.”
One pretty significant change is those counties with electronic poll books are required to have one per precinct, so a location with six precincts must have six electronic poll books. Sleeth said this “helps to eliminate” the right church, wrong pew issues where voters may be at the right polling location but went to the wrong precinct table and had to vote a provisional ballot.
After checking in, then they’ll be directed to their precinct table to pick up a ballot, he said.
Butler County had already implemented requiring an electronic poll book per precinct, and in fact Bucaro said they’ll have additional poll books at polling locations and additional people.
And having properly trained poll workers “are a critical part of ensuring that our elections run smoothly and voters have a positive experience,” said Jon Husted, Ohio’s Secretary of State. “These funds will ensure that come Election Day, Ohio’s poll workers are ready.”
The funds are based on the number of registered voters in the counties, and funding will provide for the mandatory training each poll worker is required to complete. New poll workers must go through training before working the polls while those who have previously served only need to go through retraining a minimum of once every three years.
Husted's office outlined in a June directive to the boards of election what poll workers must be trained on. The Ohio Secretary of State's office has awarded almost $2.3 million to poll worker training.
Those interested in becoming a poll worker in any election — including this Sept. 13 special 8th Congressional District election or November's general election — can receive more information online at PEOinOhio.com or contact the Butler County Board of Elections at 513-887-3700. People can also call the Warren County Board of Elections at 513-695-1358.
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