Persons can earn extra money and serve their communities by working at the polls on Election Day, Tuesday, June 3, 2014.
Election officials are currently recruiting qualified persons to staff the 139 voting precincts to be located throughout the county on June 3. There is a critical need to recruit persons who speak Spanish, Mandarin, and Tagalog. Santa Cruz County is mandated by state law to provide bilingual assistance at the polls throughout the county in Spanish, and there are a few polling places in south county that also require Tagalog speakers and Mandarin speakers are needed at UCSC.
To serve in the polls, a person must be a registered voter, a legal resident, or must be a high school student, age 16 or over, a U.S. citizen, with at least a 2.5 grade point average.
Polling places open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. Poll workers must report to duty an hour prior to opening the polls and must stay two or more hours after the polls close to prepare the equipment and election materials for return to the central counting location. Poll workers are provided breaks throughout the day.
Poll workers are paid $75 for clerks and $100 for inspectors, plus an additional $20 for attending the training class if they complete their service at the polls. In the county’s 139 voting precincts for the June election, one inspector is required and three or more clerks for each polling place. In addition, one person must be trained as an Electronic Voting Specialist.
Poll worker duties include attending a 2-hour training class held in advance of the election, setting up the polling place on Election Day, opening the polls, processing voters, closing the polls, certifying the work completed, and delivering election materials to the election return center.
Polling places are located at schools, churches, parks, libraries, fire stations, local businesses, and other public places throughout Santa Cruz County.
For more information or to apply, please call Lynn Stipes, the Santa Cruz County Clerk/Elections Department, at 831-454-2416, e-mail her at lynn.stipes@santacruzcounty.us, come to the office located at 701 Ocean St., Room 210, in Santa Cruz, open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., or visit our website at www.votescount.com