Starke County expects to have a total of 20 first-time poll workers this Election Day. During last week’s election board meeting, board member Peg Brettin said voters will notice some younger people working the polls, “Because many of the older people either, one, don’t want to do it anymore, or two, are deceased,” she explained. “So that’s one of the reasons why you’re going to see a lot of new people out there.”
To make sure all the new and returning poll workers are ready, a pair of training sessions have been scheduled for this week. The first will take place Thursday starting at 5:00 p.m. for inspectors and any poll workers wanting extra training on the voting machines, and starting at 5:30 p.m. for everyone else. It will be held in the Nancy J. Dembowski Community Center in Knox. A second training session is scheduled for Saturday morning starting at 9:00 for inspectors and 9:30 for the rest of the poll workers in the courtroom on the third floor of the Starke County Courthouse.
Clerk Vicki Cooley and the rest of the election board ask poll workers to attend Thursday’s training session, if possible, “Since we have room there,” Cooley explained. “And we might even consider giving them cookies.” Election board members also encourage new poll workers to use the online training offered by the state, to familiarize themselves with the process.
Meanwhile, Cooley said her staff has been busy making sure the bags are packed with all the necessary forms, instructions, equipment, and other supplies that will be needed on Election Day, “Pencils, pens, masking tape, magnifying glass, sticky notes, screen wipes, erasers, glue stick, your rope – 50 feet, duct tape, extension cord and power strip, your red security seals for MicroVote machines.”
Election Day voting will take place on Tuesday, November 6 from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. local time.
