St. Joseph County is still short on poll workers a week ahead of the primary elections.
Two weeks ago St. Joe County was 300 poll workers short, now they’re about 75 short. It’s a much smaller gap, but the shortage could still make running the polls smoothly a challenge.
Arielle Brandy is the Democratic board member for voter registration in St. Joseph County.
“When we are missing people from a polling location it makes it really hard to be able to serve our voters and to make sure that you can actually show up on election day and vote," Brandy said. "So, when we have a polling location that is staffed efficiently it makes it a lot better and it makes election day a lot smoother.”
Brandy said ideally, each polling place should have at least five workers.
Anyone over the age of 16 can be a poll worker. Those who are 18 or older have to be a registered voter. Students can be granted an excused absence to work the polls.
Workers help check in voters, hand out and count ballots, and other election day tasks. They are paid for the day that typically runs from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.