PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Election workers in Palm Beach County are planning possible absences, in the event that some poll workers don’t show up on Election Day.
It’s a problem that’s played out in recent years that could potentially impact your experience at the polls.
According to the office of the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections, about 1 in 10 poll workers go through training, receive an assignment, and no-call, no-show come Election Day.
“It becomes an issue when we're trying to hit our target number of 4,500 to 5,000 poll workers,” said Theron Todd, who manages the poll worker department.
According to Todd, about 500 people who showed up to staff polling places didn’t show up for poll worker training classes. Roughly 4,900 have completed training for the 2024 general election, he said.
The problem was magnified in 2020, when COVID-19 likely kept many of the more than 1,100 poll workers out of pocket on Election Day.
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“We had to close polling locations, relocate, get signage out. It was tough,” Todd said.
Supervisor of Elections Wendy Sartory Link said she does not believe there will be enough no-shows to close polling locations, but it could lead to longer wait times for voters until adequate staff can be put in place.
"We did have some issues in 2022 the gubernatorial election, and so we're trying to avoid that,” she said. “Confirming with (poll workers) the night before, making sure they're ready to come. And if they don't confirm the night before, we're bringing in other people, trying to stay ahead of it.”
People can still sign up to be poll workers in Palm Beach County.
Link believes the issue stems partly from people signing up as poll workers only to learn about the training process itself.
She said this is not isolated to a particular political party, and she welcomes people who want to sit in. She just asks that they’re upfront about it,so they don’t get an Election Day assignment they don’t plan to fulfill.
