As Election Nears, 18 Counties Still Short On Poll Workers

Eighteen counties in West Virginia still need more staff for their polling locations, with less than a month until the Nov. 5 general election.

According to the office of Secretary of State Mac Warner, Berkeley, Boone, Cabell, Fayette, Grant, Hampshire, Kanawha, Marion, Monroe, Nicholas, Ohio, Pleasants, Putnam, Randolph, Ritchie, Summers, Wayne and Wetzel counties are still actively seeking staff.

Local polling locations have struggled with worker recruitment and retention nationwide in recent years. Former workers have cited the COVID-19 pandemic, low pay and safety concerns in a tense political climate as reasons they did not return.

Warner’s office said it takes more than 8,000 paid poll workers to run an election statewide.

In West Virginia, poll workers are typically paid between $100 and $300 for working on Election Day, though the figure varies by county.

The Work Elections Project is a poll worker recruitment initiative led by a Washington, D.C. voting rights nonprofit called the Fair Elections Center. It compiles county-level poll worker pay information.

According to the project, poll workers in the counties denoted above can receive the following pay for working this year’s election:

Residents still have time to register to work next month’s election. To apply to work as a poll worker, visit the secretary of state’s voter dashboard, GoVoteWV.com.