Elkins Seeking Poll Workers for March Election

December 2nd, 2020 | 5:13 pm

Last modified on December 9th, 2020 at 06:50 pm

The 2021 city election is fast approaching–and City of Elkins needs your help.

On March 2, 2021, voters will elect a new mayor and a council member from each of the city’s five wards. Voters will also decide ballot questions that could significantly alter the structure of this city’s government for generations to come.

But none of this can happen without the hard work and dedication of poll workers. The success of each Elkins election rests in the hands of about two dozen people willing to serve in this vital role.

Anyone eligible to vote in Elkins may serve as a poll worker for Elkins elections, except for candidates on the ballot and their parents, children, siblings, or spouses.

Fair warning: Election day makes for a long workday. Poll workers must report to their polling places by 6 a.m. and assist voters until polls close at 7:30 p.m.

Once polls close, poll workers begin their hand count of the paper ballots used in city elections, a more time-consuming process than closing out the electronic voting machines used in county, national, and state elections.

Depending on voter turnout and, therefore, how many ballots need to be counted, poll workers may be required to remain at their assigned polling places until 8:30 p.m. or later.

Poll workers for early in-person voting, which is offered at Elkins City Hall in the weeks before election day, work 9:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. shifts on their assigned days.

All poll workers must also attend a 3-hour training session, scheduled this year for Saturday, February 13.

Poll worker compensation:

• Training: $125
• Election day poll workers: $175
• Early in-person voting poll workers: $64 per day.

If you are interested in serving as a poll worker–or if you just want to learn more–please contact the Office of the Elkins City Clerk by December 31.

Elkins City Clerk
Jessica R. Sutton
jsutton@cityofelkinswv.com
Phone: (304) 636-1414, ext. 1211
401 Davis Avenue, Elkins, WV, 26241

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