PENNSYLVANIA, USA — Ahead of next month’s general election, many counties across south central Pennsylvania have a full slate of poll workers ready to help on November 7.
"Right now we're in a very good place," said Gregory Monskie, chief operations officer for York County.
Monskie says the need this year isn't as great, as it's not a presidential election year.
“Ultimately the number of poll workers we need is [usually] proportional to the turnout in the election so we’re looking at needing about 1,000," he continued.
From York County to Lebanon County and Lancaster County, election officials are very happy with the number of people who have stepped forward to work the polls.
Officials in Dauphin and Cumberland Counties also tell FOX43 they're in a good spot.
“While we’re okay, we still want people to put in information online so we can keep building our bank of poll workers so if something were to occur we have a list of people to pull from," said Christa Miller, chief clerk for the Lancaster County Bureau of Elections.
Officials say that's especially important, with the threat of COVID-19 spreading again.
"The greater the pool of individuals we have that are trained and able to work at the polls, the better off it is," said Monskie.
Lebanon County’s elections bureau has also managed to triple its number of canvassers.
“We’re trying to speed up that process in preparation for next year’s presidential," said Sean Drasher, director of elections for Lebanon County. "So, rather than wait until next year, we’re bringing them in now and getting them trained up so they’re ready for next year.”
During the spring primary, York County ran a pilot program, utilizing electronic poll books for the first time. Monskie says a final decision has not yet been made on whether the electronic books will be used again in the general election.
Poll workers across the area will start their training over the next few weeks.
More information about how to become a poll worker can be found here.
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