Far more election workers than usual are needed in Montgomery County as Maryland takes its first crack at allowing early voting this fall, officials said Thursday.
The county’s Board of Elections office is looking for 4,000 to 5,000 residents to be election judges either for the Sept. 12 primary election, the Nov. 7 general election or the early voting periods leading up to these dates.
Marjorie Roher, administrative specialist at the board, said this increase over the normal 3,000 helpers reflects the 10 extra days of voting.
“We need more people to man those sites,” she said. “It’s not just Election Day anymore.”
Early voting is scheduled for Sept. 5 to 9 for the primaries and Oct. 31 to Nov. 4 for the general vote at three voting sites.
Roher said to be a judge, the person must be a registered Maryland voter who is not in public office or running for office. They also must be able to read, speak and write in English.
Because of Montgomery County’s substantial Hispanic population, the county is required to have one poll worker who speaks both English and Spanish at each of its approximately 230 voting sites, thanks to the Help America Vote Act. For that reason, the county also is looking for bilingual residents to help at the polls.
Last month, the Board of Elections solicited help fromstudents during election season. Roher said they are trained to do line control and to answer voters’ questions about the process in exchange for student service learning credit.
The board’s goal is to recruit 940 students, but so far only 425 have signed up to help, meaning students are still needed.
According to Roher, adult election workers, unlike students, are paid. Compensation for mandatory training ranges from $25 to $45, and stipends for helping during the actual elections can go as high as $150 for chiefs.
Said Roher: “It’s quite a commitment.”
Sign me up
» If you’re a student interested in helping with the upcoming elections in Montgomery County, call Gilberto Zelaya at 240-777-8532.
» If you’re a non-student wanting to work as an election judge, call 240-777-8533 for general information. Democrats can call 240-777-8570, while Republicans can call 240-777-8575.
