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| U.S. short 500,000 election poll workers |
| 2004-10-27 |
| This election is going to be wild! U.S. election officials are scrambling to recruit and train enough poll workers in time for Tuesday's national elections, USA Today reported Wednesday. The federal Election Assistance Commission estimates it is short 500,000 workers for the necessary 2 million poll workers to run a national election. "This is crunch time," said Paul DeGregorio, a member of the commission, which was created two years ago to administer funds and advice to state and local administrators. "Election officials are really scrambling to fill the polls with workers." Recruiting efforts on college campuses and among corporations and local governments have helped but have fallen short of what's needed, the newspaper said. Part of the problem is the hours are long -- anywhere from 12 to 15 hours on Election Day, plus training sessions beforehand. And the pay is low, ranging from $50 to $100. Another issue is senior citizens often come forward without necessary skills. "Some senior citizens do not have an ATM card or even a microwave, and we're asking them to utilize technology completely foreign to them," said Karen Crete, training director in Sarasota County, Fla. |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |
| #4 In New Jersey, they just go down to the Bada Bing to find poll workers...just bring some singles for tipping... |
| Posted by: capsu 78 2004-10-27 4:08:23 PM |
| #3 For perspective, the entire active US Army is around 500k, before our 'esteemed' members of Congress got around this year to hiking the number up another 25k. It was at 750k at the end of the first Gulf War. Simple solution, fewer voting locations with longer lines and further delays in the getting the numbers tallied for the instant news reports. God only knows how Americans coped with slow returns prior to the invention of television. It's not like the President takes office on Thanksgiving. |
| Posted by: Don 2004-10-27 10:44:59 AM |
| #2 What oh what will we ever do? How did the US ever have uninterrupted electons for over 200 years? 2 million for 300,000 polling places? Sounds like a case of government overstaffing to me. Heck Mickey D's serves more people with less staff, and they even feed you. |
| Posted by: ed 2004-10-27 10:33:58 AM |
| #1 You know what? I'm burned out. I've been through the seething, the fretting, the arguing with moonbat relatives. Now I'm just going to go in, vote, and sit back and watch the fun. If this country wants to vote for |
| Posted by: BH 2004-10-27 10:19:41 AM |