Washington County getting poll workers with help from state

WASHINGTON - As the November election creeps closer, county auditors are looking for people to work the polls, rearranging polling places and preparing to send out absentee ballots.

Washington County Auditor Dan Widmer said many times, they get poll workers by word of mouth. In previous years, if they needed more workers, Widmer said they reached out to key people in the community to see if they know of anyone.

Sometimes, people will go to vote, see people working and contact the auditor's office to volunteer.

More recently, Washington has had poll workers apply through a program set up by the Iowa Secretary of State.

Those interested can apply on pollworker.iowa.gov, and the information is sent to the county auditor. Widmer said they have had more than a dozen people apply through the program.

When hiring poll workers, one criteria is that each precinct must have party balance. Widmer said this requirement causes additional challenges to fill poll worker positions if there are more people from one party applying than another.

'Some of the areas in Washington County are predominately one party or the other,” Widmer said.

Widmer hopes to have five people at each poll. This allows for workers to rotate positions throughout the day and have additional people to sanitize the booths after each use.

This year, Widmer said they are looking for additional poll workers to stand on call.

If for any reason a poll worker cannot work on the day of the election, Widmer hopes to have additional people on call.

As they did in the June primaries, poll workers will wear face coverings. Hand sanitizer and face masks will be available for voters and new pens will be given to each person.

Though poll workers tend to be from the retirement community, Widmer said they have reached out to the high school to encourage the younger generations to participate.

'We would like to have more poll workers of that age because hopefully it encourages them to continue to work at polls throughout their life,” Widmer said.

During the primaries, cities were able to limit the number of polling places for safety precautions. In June, the governor signed a bill that states if an emergency exists in all precincts of a county, the number of polling places cannot be reduced by more than 35 percent.

In Washington County, there are two polling places being removed for the upcoming general election. Widmer said the polling places for Wards 1 and 4 have been in retirement facilities.

'We wanted to be cognizant to the COVID threat to the elderly population,” Widmer said.

In Washington, Wards 2 and 3 will be combined and vote at the new YMCA building. Wards 1 and 4 will vote at the courthouse.

In Kalona, the only change is moving the polling place back to the Kalona Community Center.

Widmer said he appreciates the willingness of the YMCA's to help out.

During the primaries, the county saw a higher number of absentee ballots. Widmer said they expect to see a higher number than usual during the general election as well.

Four and eight years ago, Widmer said they have had 5,000 absentee voters in the general election. He believes this year will surpass that.

Widmer said some people may be concerned with the number of absentee ballot request forms they have received in the mail. The county auditor in Washington County does not send out absentee ballot request forms unless they are requested. Other organizations as well as the secretary of state will send out absentee ballot request forms.

Widmer said people do not need to be concerned about receiving multiple ballots. The county has a system that they enter absentee ballot request information into. The program alerts them if someone has already submitted a request form.

'Some people ask 'If I fill out three absentee ballot request forms will I get three ballots,'” Widmer said. 'No, you'll only get one.”

The auditor's office will start sending out absentee ballots Oct. 5.