INDIANAPOLIS — Tuesday August 6th marked the 59th anniversary of the voting rights act. But without poll workers, we can't exercise our right to do so.
Indiana doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to performing it’s civic duty. Indiana ranks 50th in the nation when it comes to voter turnout. That’s according to the most recentcivic health index. Typically, during election years, that number increases. Which is why the Marion County Clerk is encouraging Indy' natives to become poll workers.
"We need people to work traditional election day polling sites as clerks and inspectors, but we also need people to help put the material together,” Kate Sweeney Bell the Marion County Clerk said. “We need people to help when we get the absentee ballots mailed back to us. We need bipartisan teams to work together. “
The Marion County clerk says the county needs more than 3,000 poll workers all together to effectively execute the upcoming election.
"It helps you to see what goes in to running elections and it helps you be part of something that is bigger than you," Annie Schrader a Marion County poll worker said.
Schrader will be working the polls during the 2024 election. She has been a poll worker for the last three elections, and feels she is doing her civic duty.
"I got involved because I think it's important right,” Schrader said. “Voting is something we all have the right to do. I think it's a really cool thing and it's what make our country run, and I think everybody's voice deserves to be heard."
Right now, the Marion County clerk says they have about a thousand people signed up to work. However, if the county doesn't get the number or workers they need, expect lines to be longer and don't be surprised if there are other interruptions.
"Should the unthinkable happen there would be vote centers that would not open,” Sweeney Bell said.
A poll worker must be a registered voter. High school students who are 16 and over are also able to serve if they have permission from a parent.
According to the clerk, poll workers get paid about a hundred dollars a day. If you are interested in becoming a poll worker, you can call the clerk’s office at 317-327-5100 or you can apply by clicking here.
