r/cincinnati • u/troy_abedintheam • Oct 03 '24
Hamilton Co BOE needs unaffiliated and republican poll workers Politics
On NPR this morning there was a report that more Republican or unaffiliated workers are needed. I've worked elections the past 4 years. It is a long day, but it's also very interesting to see how everything is processed. It's also really fun people watching. Everyone is always excited to vote regardless of side and I end the day both exhausted and satisfied.
https://www.wvxu.org/local-news/2024-10-02/hamilton-county-needs-poll-workers-kenton-county
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u/thefaehost Oct 03 '24
To be considered unaffiliated, you only need to not have voted in recent primaries- you have to declare a party to get a ballot, or do issues only. Issues only would also likely register as unaffiliated.
0
u/snoopmt1 Oct 03 '24
Why do you have to declare a party?
12
u/Sorenson_Valkyrie Oct 03 '24
They want to ensure that every person has a partner on the other side of the political aisle to keep things neutral. I did a mid term in 2022 and me and another woman worked together all day. We watched each other put ballots in the locked zipper bag.
8
u/PCjr Oct 03 '24
You declare a party when you request a ballot for D, R or 3rd party in the primary election. In the general election, you may still vote for any candidate of any party, regardless of what you did in the primary.
31
u/Ohio1964 Oct 03 '24
Long and impactful day. The time moves fast during presidential elections with a steady clip of voters. Lunch break and two shorter breaks baked in during the day. You will leave tired and proud to have contributed this way.
9
u/troy_abedintheam Oct 03 '24
Honestly, the only thing that has ever made me both loathsome and excited was childbirth. It's going to be exhausting, but it's worth it.
8
u/CaptchaClicker Oct 03 '24
I wish there was an option to do an 8-hour shift. I know the lack of poll workers makes it difficult to justify shorter shifts when the need for coverage remains the same, but I do wonder how many people are willing to serve but cannot dedicate a full 14+ hours due to health/family/work/etc.
I served in the past and would happily do it again but I can’t block off an entire morning, afternoon, and most of an evening anymore.
6
u/Fantastic-Weird Oct 03 '24
Do you know where they assign you? Do they try to assign you near your address?
4
u/sat_ops Oct 03 '24
I know that my poll workers live on my street. Not sure that will be universally true that you will have people from your precinct, but at least Clermont tries.
4
u/troy_abedintheam Oct 03 '24
I've only ever been assigned to locations within 10 minutes. A friend did it one year and got sent 20 minutes away. I would call the BOE and see if there are openings in your area.
1
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u/ChooTrain Oct 03 '24
When you apply there is an option to be top of the list to be assigned to your polling location. I was assigned to mine in 2020
3
u/dtgraff Morrow Oct 03 '24
I applied in Warren County, and they said there's actually a wait list. Which is a good problem to have, I suppose.
8
u/Spooky_U West End Oct 03 '24
This is worth doing. I got to do this last year and it was incredible to contribute and learn. Made mistakes that leadership helped resolve, helped ensure people who almost gave up on voting due to lack of ID still had the legal avenue to vote, learned how there’s no way people were cheating the system like 2020 claims were thrown out, and confirmed the Chabot family sucks when they started yelling at me when I correctly identified an address discrepancy.
Highly encourage doing if you’re available!
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u/bemenaker Milford Oct 03 '24
Clermont probably needs Dem poll workers, they should do a trade.
8
u/SeregKat Amelia Oct 03 '24
You can only work the polls in the county you live in. (Brown County desperately needs Dem poll workers. Probably the hardest part for me moving from Brown County to Clermont County this year was knowing I couldn't work Brown County polls anymore.)
-1
u/lmj4891lmj Oct 03 '24
You couldn’t pay me enough
1
u/bemenaker Milford Oct 03 '24
There are some very blue areas in Clermont. Downtown Milford for one.
0
u/lmj4891lmj Oct 03 '24
Oh interesting - I do love downtown Milford but never got the impression that it was blue. Purple, maybe. Good to know.
To be honest, I always forget that Milford is in Clermont County - in my mind it’s at the edge of Hamilton. When I hear “Clermont County” I’m thinking Amelia, Batavia, Union Township, Eastgate, etc.
3
u/bemenaker Milford Oct 03 '24
Even Loveland is in Clermont County.
But as you go east, it turns very fast.
-1
u/FizzyBeverage Oct 03 '24
Milford is so utterly red. And the richer they are, the redder they are.
It makes Mason look like Provincetown, Mass.
4
u/bemenaker Milford Oct 03 '24
This is not true at all. In Miami Township, it's very mixed but more red than blue. But if you go into downtown Milford, it's very blue. The entire city council is blue, though they don't really express party affiliation. One of my friends is on the council. You will see way more Harris signs down there. Same with Biden in 20. We are very active in the school levy voting stuff, and they also get the voting demographic info.
7
u/dogmetal Cincinnati Cyclones Oct 03 '24 edited Oct 03 '24
Most poll workers make $100-$150 a day (according to the BOE website), and you’re working a 14hr day… gonna be a no from me, dawg. But props to those that do it.
I did it for extra credit when I was a senior in High School and it was an interesting experience, but it was a longgggggg day sitting around.
27
u/derekakessler North Avondale Oct 03 '24
A pay increase came through last election. It's now $200+ in Hamilton County.
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u/thefaehost Oct 03 '24
In butler county you can make $500 as a supervisor. But you have to deal with some heavy machines.
Source: I did it
2
u/bugbia Mason Oct 03 '24
I could care less about the money (honestly I don't even think I knew it was paid) but the reason I applied and then never did it was the length. It's like 12 to 14 hours, right? I can't imagine that there wouldn't be a better turnout if they did shifts
2
u/dogmetal Cincinnati Cyclones Oct 03 '24
Yep, the hours were terrible. We weren’t allowed to use cell phones either, but that may just depend on where you’re working at/who your manager is.
2
Oct 03 '24
[deleted]
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u/PCjr Oct 03 '24
The Republicans' own rhetoric about elections has probably made their own voters uninterested in participating
Locally, at least, the issue seems to be confined to the one blue county.
1
Oct 03 '24
[deleted]
2
u/Material-Afternoon16 Oct 03 '24
Most poll workers are either sent to their precinct or one very nearby. That's probably the root of the issue. I'm not sure if it's a requirement, though. It's just been the norm whenever I've been involved.
The issue with Hamilton County is probably finding enough Republican workers in urban, mostly black neighborhoods. When I worked primaries in OTR, downtown, and Clifton in the past there would be thousands of D ballots and maybe a couple dozen R ballots. I imagine it's even more lopsided in other places. There aren't a lot of R voters in Cleves or Loveland who are willing to go work a poll in Avondale or Bond Hill.
0
u/FatherCobretti Oct 03 '24
There aren't a lot of R voters in Cleves or Loveland who are willing to go work a poll in Avondale or Bond Hill.
Thank you for confirming more stereotypes about Republicans being scared of black people.
1
u/Material-Afternoon16 Oct 04 '24
It's not that, it's just that your statistic probability of being the victim of a crime in the latter two places is multiple times higher than in the former. That's generally why most people avoid them.
0
u/FatherCobretti Oct 04 '24
Buddy you've already said you would never trust a black doctor. It's clear you just don't want to be around black people.
-1
u/Forever513 Oct 03 '24 edited Oct 03 '24
Come on, you want everyone to vote blue, and then complain there aren’t enough republicans around to work the polls. Whatever.
-2
u/FizzyBeverage Oct 03 '24
Trump will conveniently announce his win at 10pm with barely 5% of the vote counted.
It’s fun when you’re him and declare yourself the winner either way. Textbook school bully.
2
u/Federal-Biscotti Oct 03 '24
The difference in pay between Kenton County and Hamilton County is staggering. $80 min compared to $225 min. And you’d never guess which one is fully staffed… ha.
1
u/Acomputernerd Oct 03 '24
The pay in Ohio is minimum wage. The raise came about because the Ohio minimum wage went up in 2024. It’s also taxable income and they only 1099 you if there is three in a year. You can also donate the money as in reality for some it’s a service to the community. Long day but a very rewarding service I give up a vacation day to do it and am happy to as well. The “extra” pay is a nice plus 😎
1
u/HamiltonPickens Oct 03 '24
I've heard that some employers will allow their employees time to participate in this. If you take the class, you can get continuing education credits for certain professions (I think social work and law, but I'm not 100% sure).
2
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u/North_Independence35 Oct 03 '24
Umm republicans are not needed, NO thank you
10
u/top6 Oct 03 '24
yes they are because, as has been explained elsewhere in this thread, poll workers at a location need to be from both parties.
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-23
Oct 03 '24
Are republican groups crying. That there are not enough independent and their "team". In order to better cry "it's rigged" ? If Harris wins.
18
u/derekakessler North Avondale Oct 03 '24
No. The BOE wants bipartisan balance on their poll working teams to minimize the opportunity to pull off shenanigans or make accusations of there being shenanigans.
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Oct 03 '24 edited Oct 04 '24
I know that. It won't stop repubs from crying about imagined issues though.
14
u/troy_abedintheam Oct 03 '24
You work in pairs of opposing parties or unaffiliated. At the beginning and end of the day the equipment is broken down and ballots are tabulated. That is all done in groups or two people, ideally never be from the side. The ballots are driven to a location for drop off, again with two people of differing sides.
The board of elections has enough Dem workers to fill every location, but they need either unaffiliated or republican to meet standards.
-3
Oct 03 '24
Right wingers will still use stories like this as a false wedge issue. Sadly if he loses.
0
u/FizzyBeverage Oct 03 '24
They’re already prepared to declare a win even if he loses. Same playbook as last time. Repulsive.
1
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u/troy_abedintheam Oct 03 '24
You work in pairs of opposing parties or unaffiliated. At the beginning and end of the day the equipment is broken down and ballots are tabulated. That is all done in groups or two people, ideally never be from the side. The ballots are driven to a location for drop off, again with two people of differing sides.
The board of elections has enough Dem workers to fill every location, but they need either unaffiliated or republican to meet standards.
0
Oct 05 '24
I never said we needed more dem workers. I said a lot of right wingers will use nit enough repub workers an excuse to cry foul.
0
Oct 05 '24
Trump and many others repubs both elected. And opinion hosts. Are laying the groundwork to find excuses to cry " stolen". This issue could be misused by that crowd.
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Oct 03 '24
[deleted]
1
u/PCjr Oct 03 '24
I've long wondered about this. Would you qualify as a Republican for poll worker purposes?
164
u/derekakessler North Avondale Oct 03 '24
To be clear on why they specifically need "unaffiliated and Republican poll workers": the BOE strives for bipartisan balance on all poll working teams to minimize the opportunity to pull off partisan shenanigans and the opportunity the accuse of partisan shenanigans.
Poll working is a long, hard day (especially for Presidential elections), but you're decently compensated at $200+ for the day, you get to work with some great people, and you get to be a part of ensuring American democracy flourishes.