Primary Election Day is Tuesday. This week, the St. Joseph County Election Board took steps to make sure there are enough poll workers.
Board members passed a resolution letting candidates in contested state convention delegate and precinct committeeman races work the polls. Chief Deputy Elections Clerk Trisha Carrico said the county was short almost 40 workers, as of Monday.
"We still are in need of a lot of vote center workers, but a lot of them that have wanted to work are opposed in the primary as a delegate," Carrico explained during Monday's meeting. "And so, we want to make sure that those people are able to work as a vote center worker."
Each of the county’s 39 vote centers needs a balanced number of Republicans and Democrats, and Carrico said there was a bigger need for Republicans.
Election Board Chair John Jurgonski felt the state’s poll worker guidelines were unclear on this issue. He said many county election boards routinely pass similar resolutions.
“If we’ve already got workers in there that didn’t realize – because they’re a family member or whatever – it would just clarify it, so, day of, if somebody has an objection, that it’s already clarified that they can do it,” Jurgonski said.
Even if St. Joseph County doesn’t reach its target for poll workers, Carrico said vote center inspectors can move people around to make sure duties are covered.
