Job Fair Draws Crowd Of Aspiring Poll Workers

Around 100 people showed up for a first-ever poll worker job fair Thursday as part of an effort to improve how New Haven runs its election.

The job fair took place Wednesday afternoon in a hearing room on the ground floor of the Hall of Records. At the fair, experienced poll workers sat behind tables with sheets of information about each position, and prospective poll workers lined up to ask questions and fill out applications for the job. The Registrar of Voters office planned to hold another fair Wednesday evening and two more on June 26.

The fair occurred after the office faced backlash for its mismanagement of election day last November. Residents stood in four-hour lines to vote, ballot machines broke down, and tabulators took days to count and recount votes, the latest in years worth of election problems.

Part of the problem had been understaffing, said Jackie James, whom the city has hired as a consultant for the registrars to figure out how to improve operations in this year’s elections.

The main challenge with staffing polls has been a lack of commitment among some recruited workers, said Democratic Registrar of Voters Shannel Evans. People frequently attended trainings and then failed to show up at their polling places on election day, she said. In past years, the registrars have aimed for two people in most roles at every polling place, but often ended up with one per role after people didn’t show up.

At the start of the fair, Jackie James emphasized diligence and reliability as she spoke to the crowd.

“We need everyone to be professional,” she said.

On average, poll workers put in 16 hour shifts, from set up to closing. This year the city is giving poll workers a $100 raise, to daily stipends that range from $265 to $290.

The job fair was meant to address this issue of unreliability, James said. It was part of an effort to ​“professionalize the process” of becoming a poll worker.

“There have been complaints about people working at the polls,” she said. ​“This way, at least we can put a face to the name.”

The registrars aim to recruit 325 poll workers for the upcoming elections. They hope to assign 10 – 12 poll workers to every location, targeting areas with a historically high voter turnout in particular.

The registrars are hiring for seven different positions: moderators, who are in charge at each polling place; assistant registrars, who help the moderators; official checkers, who greet voters and verify identification and voter registration; ballot clerks, who hand out ballots; machine tabulators, who ensure that the ballots are properly fed into the machine; translators, who will mainly interpret between Spanish and English; and floaters, who will each be assigned to two polling places and assist with issues such as running out of ballots.

Floaters are a new addition to the team this year, partly in response to understaffing last year.

The applicants — including both new and returning poll workers — could indicate their preference for a specific position, although there was no guarantee that they would be assigned to that role. Those who receive a job will work at both the Sept. 10 primary election and the Nov. 5 general election.

This year, Evans said she hopes to have two sets of registers, two to four official checkers, two ballot checkers, two machine tabulators, two clerks, and a translator at each polling site.

Both James and Evans were heartened to see that so many people had showed up to the fair.

“We had a really good turnout today,” James said. ​“I think we’ll have to turn people away, unfortunately.”

Karen Harrison heard about the job fair from a friend, who called her that morning to make sure she had woken up on time. She wasn’t sure which position she would indicate as her preference, only that she wanted to work at the polls.

“I’m trying to do this to make a living,” she said. She had previously volunteered at the polls with New Haven Rising, a labor activist organization, for two years. ​“I’m tired of doing it for free,” she said. ​“It’s time to get paid now.”

Jacquelynn Webster has assisted at the polls for four years, most recently as a machine tabulator. She praised the new job fair system, saying that it was important to screen people working at the polls. If poll workers are unprofessional, she said, ​“it could be a bad look for the city.”

Last year, she recalled, voting went smoothly until about 7 p.m., when a physical fight broke out between the moderator and assistant moderator. The moderator went to the hospital, she remembered.

“It’s a challenge,” Webster said. ​“You gotta be a people person.”

Philomena Meyer, who has worked in the past as a checker and a ballot clerk, agreed. ​“Everybody has different personalities,” she said.

Angel Cabrera, who speaks five languages, stood behind a table with information sheets about working as a translator at the polls, ready to help people interested in the job.

He expressed enthusiasm for the voting process as a means of making a difference.

“I went for [Gov.] Ned Lamont —and guess what?” he said. ​“Fifteen dollar minimum wage.”

Last year, in his first year as a poll worker, Cabrera mainly assisted the moderator. He said he’s excited to work as a translator this year, since he imagines that the voting process is particularly overwhelming for voters in need of an interpreter. As a translator, he said, ​“you get to help people who are absolutely lost.”