OHIO — More than half of Ohio counties are still in need of poll workers. 

The election is two weeks away and many counties are doing whatever is needed to make sure there are enough poll workers. While some counties have met their goal, the Ohio Secretary of State’s office says more than 50 are still in need.

What You Need To Know

  • More than 50 Ohio counties still need poll workers

  • The team of poll workers must be a balance of Republican and Democrats

  • Poll-worker pay depends on the county

  • Early voting is open until Aug. 8

The Hamilton County Board of Elections has only met 72% of its goal and is still in need of about 500 people. The pay aranges from $181 to $218. 

Some county departments are offering paid leave and more.

“Many of those departments also offer an additional personal day the county workers can choose,” said Sherry Poland, Hamilton County Board of Elections. “We appreciate our partnership with the county agencies and incentivizing their staff to work the polls.” 

Some counties can’t afford to lose workers because they are already short-staffed.

Trumbull County usually relies on veterans and their local schools to staff the polls, but an August election hasn’t made that easy. The county has more than 400 poll workers in training this week and numbers should look better once they all get confirmed. 

 The Trumbull County Board of Elections wasn't hitting the panic button just yet.

“The secretary of state has been recruiting poll workers for us and it's pretty normal the last two weeks that we get people calling in saying, 'Hey, I want to be a poll worker,'” said Edrea Mientkiewicz, Trumbull County Board of Elections. “So, we sign them up and trainings range between two to three hours for just one day.” 

If county thresholds aren’t met, Hamilton County has a plan in place. 

“We will reach out to poll workers assigned to other locations that meet that are fully staffed and we'll sort of move poll workers around to where the need is,” said Poland. “We also train our full-time staff to be poll workers, so if we get into a situation where we might have to send out full time staff to cover our lunch breaks for poll workers, we will be able to do that.”

All counties must have a balanced number of Republican and Democrat poll workers, but there is room for all political affiliations.

“We have a place for unaffiliated voters as well,” Poland said. “Not every voter is affiliated with one of the major political parties and there are assignments and there are poll worker positions for those that are unaffiliated as well.”

Voter turnout is expected to be lower than a regular November election or a presidential election.

Election officials said the August special election can be the perfect opportunity for people to be introduced to the civil service.

“It would be a great first election to work because the turnout will not be as high as what we'll see in 2024, so it's a great first election to work,” said Poland. 

Early voting is open until the Sunday before Election Day.

Related Stories