As eyes are on 2022 elections, Broome County is looking for poll workers

BROOME COUNTY (WBNG) -- The primary and general elections will be here before we know it and preparations aren’t far away, according to the Republican Commissioner for the Broome County Board of Elections Mark E. Smith.

“Starting typically probably around April or May we’ll start organizing and scheduling these trainings,” said Smith.

‘National Poll Worker Recruitment Day’ was Tuesday, but in places like Broome County, it’s an on-going effort to recruit, according to the Board of Election’s Democratic Commissioner Daniel D. Reynolds.

“We have some older people that are poll workers that aren’t comfortable going out and interacting with the public directly anymore,” said Reynolds. “So we’ve had some drop off and we would really like to fill that.”

The Board of Elections is looking to fill roughly 100 spots.

“Optimally, we would be at about 500 for general election and we have about 400,” said Reynolds. “A lot of people do it just to be civic minded, to help the community, to help people vote. You do get paid for your time.”

To get compensated for the effort, training is required, which you also get paid for.

“Early summer is when we start training for the primary and then we continue training all throughout the summer to get ready for the general election in November,” said Smith.

If on the fence about devoting any time, this year is said to be unlike the past with a greater need for participation.

“This coming general election, we have a lot of races. A lot more races than we did this past November. We are going to have upwards of 100 poll sites,” said Smith.

For more information, head to this website or call 607-778-2172.