Elections office works to overcome shortage of poll workers

ALBANY — There are those of us who hear of societal ills and concerns, and we squawk and complain about them. Then there are those of us who actually try to do something about them.

You can add local businesswoman and former Albany city commissioner B.J. Fletcher to that list that takes action.

When Fletcher heard that officials in the Dougherty County Elections office were having trouble signing up enough poll workers to get the city and county through the pending 2022 general election, she decided to do something about it. She called to find out what she needed to do to join the poll workers, and on Friday, after an application arrived in the mail, she filled it out in preparation of lending her support to the cause.

“To me, this is like jury duty,” Fletcher said. “I think any of us who are able to help the Elections office meet this need should do so. I look at is civic duty.

“It was already tough to get poll workers in the community, and then COVID hit the office hard. I’m signing up. Just give me the rules, tell me what to do, and I’m ready to follow.”

Which must be music to the ears of Elections Supervisor Ginger Nickerson, who has started putting out the word that poll workers are definitely needed.

“I’m working with the numbers now as we start looking to the November election, but, yes, we definitely have a shortage,” Nickerson said. “We need workers; we need people who want to serve their community. We need people who are willing to sacrifice a little of their time and make a commitment.

“We’d love to have people who are tech savvy, but I assure you that we will train everyone who volunteers.”

Fletcher said she hopes to help alleviate some of the frustration individuals unfamiliar with the voting process might feel as they cast their ballots.

“I went into a bank the other day, and one of the employees actually had an older customer in tears,” she said. “The thing about it is, nowadays most in the work force assume everyone has the same computer skills that they do. And when someone asks a question or doesn’t understand a process, the level of rudeness is unbelievable.

“I went over to the elderly person who’d been treated so rudely and tried to help her with her issue. I went to the employee and started asking her some specific questions, and eventually she said she didn’t know the answer to all of the questions. I said, ‘Now you can imagine how that lady felt when she was asking you questions.’ If everything goes OK and I work with the Elections folks, I hope to help some people have a pleasant experience.”

Nickerson said there’s an added bonus to performing civic duty as a poll worker: You get paid for doing so.

“First of all, we ask volunteers to go through a training period that’s relatively simple; we don’t try to put too much on anybody,” she said. “They get paid for the training, and they get paid for the time they work on Election Day and during early voting. It’s a flat rate, and no taxes are taken from people’s checks.”

Individuals like Fletcher, who work but have free time to give to the elections process, are among groups Nickerson said are ideal candidates to serve as poll workers. Others include retirees and students.

“We’ve had some schools that have given students excused absences to work at one of the precincts during Election Day,” the Elections supervisor said. “In fact, we’re going to try and put together some partnerships with some of the schools to provide students to work. It’s a great educational opportunity for students to see our elections process in action. They get an insider’s view.”

Fletcher said that, with certain political groups expressing concern over the validity of recent elections, volunteering to serve as a poll worker will offer insight as to how the process actually works.

“You hear so many things, you don’t know what to believe,” she said. “But if you’re that concerned, volunteer. Work at the polls. Then you’ll see what’s actually going on. If you really believe there are issues, you should volunteer.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re white, black, brown, yellow or whatever, we need a diverse group involved in our election process. I’m actually excited about it; I’m looking forward to it.”

Nickerson said she’ll start getting the work out on various platforms about her office’s need for volunteers.

“We need two things: People who are willing and able,” she said. “All it takes is a little commitment, and we welcome all who want to participate.”

Staff Photo: Tara Fletcher