LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Election Day is fewer than 100 days away, and Kentucky needs more poll workers.

What You Need To Know

  • Secretary of State Michael Adams, R-Ky., said Kentucky often falls short of how many poll workers it needs

  • Adams said the commonwealth needs about 15,000 poll workers for Election Day, Nov. 5 

  • Jefferson County needs more than 2,000 poll workers, according to the Jefferson County Clerk's Office

  • Adams recently opened up a new poll worker recruitment portal to recruit more volunteers

Jefferson County needs more than 2,200 election officers for Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5.

“We always try to ensure that there are two Democrats and two Republicans," said Ashely Tinius, Jefferson County Clerk's Office director of communications. "We have a hard time recruiting sometimes, especially with the Republican election officers, so we're always asking for extra Republican election officers." 

One deterrent of becoming an officer, Tinius said, is election officers cannot pick what poll they’ll work at on Election Day.

“We can try and put you in your home precinct and try and get you near your home, but in order for us to have coverage across the entire Jefferson County, we might have to put someone in a precinct that's not close to their home,” she said.

Secretary of State Michael Adams, R-Ky., said the commonwealth needs about 15,000 poll workers for Kentucky’s approximately 3,700 precincts.

“For many years, we had regular poll workers who would do every single election," Adams said. "They're aging; they're not going to be always available. So as we see a decline in our senior population that are volunteers, we've got to step up younger people." 

Adams recently launched a poll worker recruitment portal in an effort to recruit more volunteers. Since Aug. 1, 300 people have signed up.

“Being a part of the election just makes you part of that community," Tinius said. "It lets you kind of feel the pride that comes with helping an election go off." 

The new portal can be found on the secretary of state’s website, and Jefferson County also has its own online application.

Poll workers must be 18 years old by Election Day and registered to vote. According to the state Board of Elections, payment varies by county, but each election officer is paid a minimum of $10 for training and $60 per Election Day. In Jefferson County, election officers are paid $299 for the training and Election Day, according to Tinius.  

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