Northwest Iowa — Auditors in some parts of Iowa are rushing to recruit and train more poll workers before November arrives, as coronavirus concerns sideline scores of longtime election workers. But the problem doesn’t seem to be as bad in our area.
Many poll workers are elderly retirees, who just don’t think working at the polls during the pandemic is worth the risk.
In Osceola County, County Auditor Rochelle Van Tilburg says they don’t have any worries at this point. She says they did have one precinct where there was a vacancy, but they ran an ad and people stepped up and now the position is covered.
O’Brien County Auditor Barb Rohwer says the Secretary of State’s office has been doing social media pleas around the state for poll workers. She says right now she’s got two more she needs to find. She says she would also like to hear from other people that might be interested, especially this year. She says she might need a backup plan in case someone gets sick or has to quarantine.
Rohwer says that just like during the primary, they’re going to pare down the normally nine precincts to seven, combining the three Sheldon wards into one polling place — at the Crossroads Pavilion. Rohwer says the voters like that too because otherwise, they’re trying to figure out where to vote, and so this streamlines it a little more.
According to Rohwer, she got about 20 names from the Secretary of State recently of people who might be interested in working the polls. She tells us that the poll workers do have to live in the county, and they give preference for those who actually live in the precinct. But if they have to move some people around, that is allowed.
Another thing that not everyone knows is that poll workers have to be affiliated with either the Republican or the Democratic party, says Rohwer. A poll worker may not be an independent voter. She says that is in order to keep the election fair. There is always an equal number of workers from the two parties at every polling place.
In Sioux County, Auditor Ryan Dokter says they’re doing pretty well right now, as long as people who have said they would work don’t back out. He says they do have some backup people too. Dokter says they like to have some experienced people along with some of the new people to help work the elections.
Lyon County Auditor Jen Smit tells us that not everyone she has talked to has returned their information yet saying they would work at the polls. She says they’re still in the process of appointing poll workers, but they aren’t having any major problems finding workers at this point. However, she says some are hesitant due to COVID-19, which is completely understandable.
Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate has been recruiting volunteers for months to help county auditors hire some 10,000 poll workers across the state. As of mid-September, a spokesman for Pate said some 4,500 Iowans had expressed interest in working through the state’s dedicated recruitment website.
