QUESTION
What is being done to address the decline in poll site workers showing up for work?
3:39:59
·
3 min
The Board of Elections is taking measures to address the decline in poll site workers showing up for work.
- The BOE has an election day worker portal for sign-ups and conducts public outreach.
- There are standby pools in all boroughs for no show situations.
- Standby pools are not typically needed for early voting locations.
- Changes in the way elections are conducted have impacted the need for poll workers, creating staffing challenges.
Lincoln Restler
3:39:59
I'd like to dig in on some poll site worker related questions.
3:40:02
According to the PMMR, we have seen a steady decline over the last few years in poll site workers showing up to work.
3:40:08
It was up at a peak of about 96% in FY 21, down to 90% in the latest report that we've seen.
3:40:19
What's BOE doing to reverse this trend?
Michael J.Ryan
3:40:21
So we have an election day worker dotcom portal, if you will, for poll workers to sign up.
3:40:31
We also have public outreach.
3:40:35
You've seen them.
3:40:36
I'm sure you've seen the ads and such in the subways become a poll worker.
3:40:41
It like I said, it kind of ebbs and flows.
3:40:43
My experience over 10 years has been, it's more related to what is going on.
3:40:50
At the poll site than what the board is doing.
3:40:53
So presidential elections have a tendency to be robustly attended lesser events or primaries for that matter have a tendency to be more more shortly attended by by the poll work.
3:41:07
In the meantime, we always have a standby pool.
3:41:10
So when we have our no show stats that we put out, we we also have standby pools in all of the boroughs, and then they get deployed and reconfigured.
3:41:20
We're not seeing that kind of no show on the early voting locations.
3:41:25
Those have tendency to be a more premium assignment.
3:41:30
But on election day, you know, things can go wrong in people's lives and You know?
Vincent Ignizio
3:41:34
So we've we've sufficiently been staffed, though, throughout for EVN, for poll.
Lincoln Restler
3:41:38
You do feel that even despite the, you know, 10% of workers not showing up, you've been able to cover and manage poolside operations effectively without significant delays or inconveniences to special voters?
Michael J.Ryan
3:41:52
So this would be something that I I think that we could maybe talk more face to face about, but for the purposes of of a public consumption, I I would say this.
3:42:04
There have been changes to the way that elections have been conducted over the last decade.
3:42:09
In in terms of, you know, maybe decade in 2 years now, privacy booths and the the DS 200 scanners and those kinds of things.
3:42:19
And and the mandates for poll workers and the numbers of poll workers that we need have not necessarily changed a pace with with the matter in which we conduct elections.
3:42:37
So the example I'd like to give you is, there are those of us here who may be old enough to recall When we had primary elections, it was necessary for a poll worker to stand next to the lever machine to change the dial so that you made sure that the person was voting on a Democrat Republican or other ballot.
3:42:54
Well, we don't have the need for those poll workers anymore, but those poll worker numbers are still contained within the recommendation or the guidelines from the state board of elections.
3:43:05
So we look to staff relative to what we're told we should staff.
3:43:12
But if 1 or 2 here or there don't show up this sufficient padding in the overall work.