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# Column: Poll workers get paid as much as $165, so sign up early
- URL: https://bsquarebulletin.com/column-poll-workers-get-paid-as-much-as-165-so-sign-up-early/
- Published: 2020-09-02T01:22:44.000Z
- Updated: 2025-02-25T02:42:52.000Z
- Author: Dave Askins
- Tags: Old B Square, #imported-whole

OK, Monroe County, the headline pretty much says it all. Read more about getting a gig as a poll worker at the Monroe County [Election Central](http://monroecountyvoters.us/pollworkerportal.html) website.

![](https://i0.wp.com/bsquarebulletin.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/cropped-drivers-license-temporary-IMG_6989.jpeg?resize=300%2C150&ssl=1)

Temporary driver’s license issued on Sept. 1, 2020\. Registration to vote was accomplished with the same trip to the BMV. **The deadline to register to vote for the Nov. 3 election is Oct. 5.**

Working the polls is honest work for honest pay. Here in Monroe County Indiana, [poll workers get paid](http://monroecountyvoters.us/pollworkerportal.html) up to $165 plus $25 for training. That’s for inspectors. The pay for clerks and judges is $135.

A bunch of workers will be needed for the Nov. 3 election this year—more than usual.

Why? The COVID-19 pandemic means there will be more mailed-in absentee ballots this year, even if no-excuse absentee voting has not been approved like it was for the primary.

Those mailed-in ballots have to stay in their envelopes until Election Day. Only then can they be opened. That takes a lot of hands, in a short span of time.

The usual crew of poll workers includes a lot of older folks. Precautions against COVID-19 are being taken at polling sites. But some regulars might not feel 100-percent confident about working the polls this year, given their age bracket’s higher risks connected to COVID-19 infection. That means others will need to step up.

The high interest in this year’s presidential race means that turnout is expected to be high.

Monroe County’s clerk Nicole Browne [sent out a press release](https://bsquarebulletin.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/2020-09-01-clerks-presser.pdf) announcing that her office was celebrating National Poll Worker Recruitment Day today (Sept. 1).

This column would have be posted earlier in the day, if I had executed better on the advice that the election board has been giving at all of its recent meetings: Do everything as early as you can this year, to leave yourself and others plenty of time.

Another task that I didn’t complete at the earliest possible moment was registering to vote in the state of Indiana. This morning I headed off to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles office to swap out my South Dakota driver’s license for one from the Hoosier state. It turns out that a standard followup question at the BMV for a new licensee is: Would you like to register to vote? Yes! Yes, I did.

Anyhow, even if you have not done everything as early as possible so far, go ahead and do it *now*. Now will be better than later. That includes signing up as a poll worker.

If you’re not sure what working the polls is all about, you can start with some background reading on the Monroe County [Election Central](http://monroecountyvoters.us/pollworkerportal.html) website. It’s my go-to source for all nuts-and-bolts election information.

Happy belated National Poll Worker Recruitment Day!