The Lucas County Board of Elections is in need of poll workers and other employees for the upcoming general election.
Generally the elections board employs roughly 1,200 poll workers, but it has recently experienced a net loss of about 100, said David Karmol, the board’s chairman.
Elections officials have been looking especially for younger people and students, and hope to take on as many as 200 to 300 for the Nov. 3 election, he said.
“We know we will lose more election precinct officials as we get closer to the election,” Mr. Karmol said.
The board has planned a job fair for the election vacancies Aug. 20 and 21, with training to follow both online and in person.
“We’ll be recruiting workers for the various jobs that are required to put on a successful election,” said Richard Schoen, a member of the board.
In addition to poll workers, the board is looking to hire people to travel between locations to help with technical issues and others to staff substations where vote-sensitive materials are collected from the various polling locations. Positions also need to be filled at the board’s office and warehouse.
“I got into being an election worker maybe about 15 or 20 years ago,” Mr. Schoen said. “It occurred to me that I never served my country in the military and I saw this as a great opportunity to do that for my country.”
Both the elections board and the Ohio Secretary of State have postings of available election jobs on their websites. To work in the office for the Board of Elections, applicants are asked to contact the board directly at 419-213-4001.
In addition to the open positions, the Board of Elections assures that necessary precautions have been taken to keep voting safe this year, including offering single-use styluses and gloves specially designed for voting as well as separating voting machines to comply with state distancing regulations.
Voters can request absentee ballots to vote from the comfort of their own homes, board member Kurt Young said.
“We’re encouraging people to get that going now,” Mr. Young said. “We want to make sure to give every voter who should have the right to vote, the right to vote.”
The board also noted that there have been some polling location changes, in order to ensure all locations comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, board member Brenda Hill said.
Postcards will be mailed to inform voters of their new polling locations, which can also be found on the board’s website.
First Published August 4, 2020, 11:03 p.m.
