Poll Worker Shortage May Hamper Voting

[leftchick]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=548&ncid=703&e=5&u=/ap/20041031/ap_on_el_ge/poll_workers

<snip>

A shortage of at least 500,000 poll workers nationwide means many voters could face long lines, cranky volunteers, polling places that don't open or close on schedule and the chance that results won't be known until long after the polls are closed.



Roughly 1.4 million people have been trained to serve as poll workers on Tuesday, about the same as four years ago, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. But nearly 2 million will be needed to deal with expected heavy turnout, huge numbers of first-time voters and unfamiliar touch-screen machines in hundreds of counties.


Desperate for workers, the Election Assistance Commission urged businesses and federal agencies to give volunteers the day off with pay to staff the polls. But as the last deadline for training new workers passed Friday, critical shortages remained in many states.


"If the criminal justice system didn't have access to jurors, the criminal justice system wouldn't exist. Poll workers are just as important as jurors," said DeForest Soaries Jr., chairman of the EAC and former New Jersey secretary of state.

[ProudToBeLiberal]

1. vote early if you can nt

[goodboy]

2. I can only speak for Franklin CO. Ohio, but we're fully staffed...

I'm a voter protection official, armed with a video camera.


Nobody's gonna do anything on my watch.

[NMDemDist2]

3. not "watchers" but actual poll workers it the problem

i wanted to do it, but couldn't take the day off and it's at least a 14 hour day

they need to make shifts available, not make people stay the entire day and night

[Demeter]

6. There's a Method to the Madness

A person who stays whole day can witness that procedures were followed all day--everybody signs in on the start of the poll book at the beginning and signs off on the tallies at the end of the day.

[Bossy Monkey]

4. Aw, they wouldn't be trying to scare anybody away from voting, would they?

Naw, not Republican appointees!

[awgoodkitty]

5. I literally just signed up to work it in North Los Angeles County

They are still at the office and they still need people badly. They even asked if I knew anyone who could work with me. Unfortunately, I don't.

If you live in CA, they need you!

http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/elections_d.htm

[Kelvin Mace]

7. If ever there was a recipe for disaster...

- Record turnout expected
- Poll workers in short supply
- Poorly trained poll workers playing with new, finicky voting machines
- Partisans looking to start trouble
- New machines have no audit capability

If we make it through this election without fist fights at the polls, riots or a civil war, we will be very lucky.

David Allen
Publisher, CEO, Janitor
Plan Nine Publishing
http://www.plan9.org
http://www.blackboxvoting.com