MADISON, Wis. (SPECTRUM NEWS) - Tuesday is National Poll Worker Recruitment Day, and Wisconsin desperately needs more poll workers. 

Under normal circumstances, many poll workers are seniors. With the spread of coronavirus, some may not want to serve in a polling place on election day. 

Even with a huge portion of absentee ballots, polling places need just as much staffing. Those mail-in ballots are taken to the local precinct where that person would vote, and they’re processed by poll workers essentially “standing in” for the voter. 

Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe said in a WEC meeting Tuesday the state can use members of the National Guard again in November, but they’re not guaranteed. 

Instead, Wisconsin election officials are encouraging local clerks to reach out to new groups to recruit more poll workers. Wolfe said the WEC is suggesting clerks talk to civic organizations, political parties, high school students, teachers, and college students. 

“They have reached out to organizations like the United Way to encourage them to have their volunteers

become poll workers,” Wolfe said. “There was also an email going out to all state employees encouraging state employees to become poll workers as well. And we have heard that in some communities, that has been successful.” 

Part of the poll worker training will include the proper personal protective equipment: Masks, hand sanitizer, maybe plexiglass barriers, and sometimes gloves. 

“We just received thousands of gallons of sanitizer today,” Wolffe said. “We have things like gloves, even though the CDC and public health officials don’t necessarily recommend gloves for elections, some poll workers have said they feel more comfortable if they’re doing things like processing absentee ballots.” 

If you’d like to volunteer as a poll worker, click here to learn more.