COLUMBIA, S.C. — Poll workers are essential when it comes to our democracy and the integrity of our election.
Earlier this year WLTX reported about a shortage of poll workers due to the pandemic, but it seems things have improved as we get closer to November 3.
If you've ever been interested in being a poll worker or understanding the process, this is a quick crash course. First, you need to understand the difference between Poll Manager and Poll Clerk.
"In the law, it refers to poll managers and that's really everyone working at the polling place is a poll manager," said Chris Whitmire with the SC Election Commission. "The leader of the poll managers we refer to as the poll clerk."
Whitmire has been working hard for months to recruit and train new poll workers, because many long-serving and dedicated poll managers have opted out of serving this year for their own personal safety.
"We started an online application which we never had before," said Whitmire. "We started back in April and since then we've had 19,000 people apply throughout the state to be poll managers."
Whitmire says right now the Palmetto State has an abundance of interested applicants and some counties are having to turn people away.
According to scvotes.gov, poll workers will be compensated for their time on election day. Poll managers get $60 for attending training, $15 for COVID-19 training, $75 for working on election day and an additional $15 for COVID-19 related duties on election day for a total of $165.
As the lead poll manager, poll clerks make a little more. They get an added $60 for training for a total of $225.
"They do get paid, not enough, but the do get paid," said Whitmire. "Most are not doing it for the money, they do it as a civic duty and a public service to their county, state and country."
Training is important. Whitmire says poll managers must be trained prior to every election. Both online and in-person manager training is available.
"We wouldn't have elections without poll managers," said Whitmire. "We must have poll managers to have elections, because they are on the front lines. They are the vanguard of democracy."