Clark County election chief ‘very confident’ in poll worker staffing
Clark County Registrar of Voters Joe Gloria said Tuesday that local election officials were on track to staff dozens of Election Day and early voting sites this fall, two weeks after concerns of a poll worker shortage prompted officials to scale back the number of voting locations.
“So we’re in a much better position than the last time I was before you to present,” Gloria told the County Commission. “We’re very confident that we’ll be able to staff the 125 (Election Day) sites, along with the 35 early voting sites that we plan to provide for 14 days.”
On Aug. 18, Gloria said the county would offer 125 in-person voting locations instead of 159 as initially expected amid struggles to recruit the necessary number of poll workers during the pandemic. Since then, staff have reviewed more than 1,000 applications, leading to an increase in the number of volunteers by about 700 to 2,459.
The county will need to add another 900 workers from more than 1,250 pending applications to secure enough staff for all locations and set aside extra workers just in case, according to Gloria. It is anticipated that some applicants might decide not to go forward with volunteering or may not pass a training test.
“The word got out,” he said about the need for more poll workers, and the county has seen a “steady stream” of applicants.
Also, the county plans to allow voters to drop off mail ballots at all 125 Election Day sites, instead of just 43 as initially expected, increasing access for voters who opt not to return the ballot by mail.
“We don’t have any indications that say that they should be concerned putting it in the mail,” Gloria said.
The Trump campaign has sued Nevada over its plan to send mail ballots to all voters, saying provisions in its plan compromise election integrity despite no credible evidence to support allegations that voting by mail increases fraud. The Nevada secretary of state’s office responded by putting a list of myths versus facts online.
No plans to increase sites, but perhaps stipends
Election officials are not inclined to add any more in-person voting sites for the general election, even if they secure enough volunteers. Gloria recommended against it, saying that it would slow down preparations and that he is confident 125 locations will “more than serve” Election Day turnout.
Commissioner Tick Segerblom, who raised concerns about recruitment efforts at a time when voters are facing “the most important election of anybody’s lifetime,” suggested increasing the compensation for volunteers by using federal coronavirus relief dollars would ensure staffing will be adequate.
County Manager Yolanda King said that county officials will review the financial impact of his recommendation, which would increase stipends for up to six hours of training from $50 to $100 and for Election Day poll workers from $225-$250 to $300-$350, depending upon their job. Segerblom did not address hourly pay, which is how early voting poll workers are compensated.
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Contact Shea Johnson at sjohnson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272. Follow @Shea_LVRJ on Twitter.
