Wisconsin Election Commission wants contingency plans from local clerks in case of poll worker shortage
Wisconsin’s Election Commission is quizzing local election managers about their poll worker needs ahead of the November election.
(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s Election Commission is quizzing local election managers about just how short of resources they may be at the polls this fall.
The WEC late last week sent a survey to the state’s 1,850 election clerks asking them to detail their needs for Election Day in November.
“While we were fortunate to use Wisconsin National Guard Service Members as poll workers in both April and May, we cannot be guaranteed this resource will be available to us again in August and November,” the commission said in the survey. “It is imperative that clerks are doing all they can to recruit for new poll workers and to implement solid contingency planning should National Guard be an unavailable resource going into the fall election cycle.”
More than 2,000 Wisconsin National Guard troops provided support in the April election. They handled everything from helping to guide and register voters to cleaning polling places amid the first wave of the coronavirus outbreak.
The Guard said in April that it was happy to help fill those roles.
The WEC is asking local clerks two simple questions.
“What efforts have been made by impacted municipalities to recruit for poll workers?” the survey asked. “Should the National Guard not be an available resource for poll worker support, what will you do to ensure that all polling place locations are open on election day?”
The goal, according to the WEC, is to show not only the need for poll workers but that local election managers are trying first to solve their problems on their own.
“This information will be used to show what efforts have been taken to recruit poll workers as all other options and efforts must first be exhausted before other support avenues can be utilized, including the activation of the National Guard,” the commission said. “If you have indicated a serious or critical need for poll workers, you must also provide additional information about that need, such as your contingency plan in the event other resources are not available.”
There is no deadline for when the WEC wants answers from local election clerks.
