Behind every successful Election Day are the dedicated temporary poll workers who make it all possible. You may not know it, but these everyday people are one of our most important cornerstones of our democracy — keeping our elections running smoothly and ensuring that every voter has the opportunity to cast their ballot securely and fairly. The most important job of a poll worker is to help administer our nation’s elections, ensuring the right to a secure, fair, and accurate vote in our communities. Poll workers handle everything from setting up polling locations and checking in voters to distributing ballots, providing language assistance, helping voters with voting machines, answering questions about the process, and, most exciting of all, handing out “I Voted” stickers. Poll workers are needed for the Primary, May 5, 2026. If this sounds exciting to you, here’s what you need to know about working the polls in Erie County!

• Erie County has 62 precincts, with four poll workers hired per precinct. The goal is to hire an equal number of Democratic and Republican workers.
• Many locations in Erie County are multi-precinct locations. A two-precinct location will have eight workers assigned to it, and a three-precinct location will have 12 workers assigned to it.
• Election Day is a full day, with poll workers expected to arrive at their polling location at 5:45 a.m., and stay until after the polls close, usually between 8:00 and 8:30 p.m. Polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
• Pay for working is $130.
• Training before working the polls is required. Training pay depends on the position: $30 for Voting Location Managers (VLMs), $25 for signature judges, and $20 for ballot judges and clerks. Training takes place at the Erie County Board of Elections a few weeks before the election. Poll workers are given several classes to choose from based on what fits their schedule.
• VLMs who pick up supplies the day before the election receive an extra $10. VLMs who drop off supplies Election Night receive either an extra $10 if they work in Sandusky or Perkins, an extra $20 if they work in Vermilion or Florence, and an extra $16 if they work anywhere else in the county.
• Opposite party ride-backs who accompany the VLM back to the Board of Elections to drop off supplies receive an extra $10.
• The party of the VLM is determined by how the precinct they are serving in voted in the last governor’s race. If more electors in the precinct voted for the Republican candidate for governor, then the VLM is a Republican. If more electors in the precinct voted for the Democratic candidate for governor, then the VLM is a Democrat.
• Poll workers receive their check and a post-election survey in the mail approximately two to three weeks after the election.

INTERESTED IN BECOMING A POLL WORKER?
Please contact the Erie County Board of Elections:
419-627-7601 – Main Number | Ask for Kimberly Barnum

To print out the information below, please visit HERE.