The Hillsdale City Clerk’s Office is looking for registered voters to work in the polling locations on the three Election Days in the upcoming year, and Hillsdale students could be viable applicants.
The only requirement to work in the polling locations is to be a registered voter within the state of Michigan. Poll workers will be involved with elections on March 8, August 9, and November 8.
Election workers typically arrive around 6 a.m. to set up the polls and work until 10 p.m. at the latest. These 14-hour days are filled with an assortment of jobs.
“It’s mostly working polls, greeting people, making sure they’re registered, and giving them a ballot,” Hillsdale City Clerk Stephen French said.
Workers are paid $8.50 per hour. Both lunch and dinner are provided on election days.
Prior to working at the first election, workers will attend a two-hour training session this month.
Interested applicants can fill out an online application, or stop into French’s office to fill out the application. French emphasized that the process needs to occur in the next few weeks.
“It would need to be pretty quick,” French said. “Training is this month so they would need to do this in the next couple of weeks.”
French said homeschooled students have worked in past election years, but was unsure if Hillsdale students had accompanied them. He said, however, that young workers are beneficial as they are comfortable with technology.
“With the growth of technology with computers and laptops, a lot of older workers are fearful of learning how to work a computer,” French said. “Young people are more used to using touch screens and computers everyday.”