Local poll workers will notice fatter paychecks after two recent votes by Vanderburgh County officials.
County council unanimously voted Wednesday to raise poll worker pay from $8.50 to $10 an hour.
It applies to seasonal workers at the election office and early voting satellite locations.
The vote came after a lengthy discussion. Several councilmembers said they supported the raise but wanted the county clerk to look into cutting back hours or staffers at poll locations.
It’s a proposal county clerk Carla Hayden said she would consider.
The county election office and party officials say it’s hard to find enough poll workers. Hayden told the council that she's recently hired workers in the election office, but there's still one vacant spot she hasn't been able to fill.
Kate Sherrill, who's recently volunteered as a precint committee and has been a paid poll worker, says poll workers tend to be older, and it's harder to find new ones as time goes on.
"The pool of workers who’ve really been the backbone of the poll workers has been rapidly depleted," Sherrill says. "We just haven't seen younger people come into the system to fill those spaces."
She also says that poll workers work long hours for relatively low pay. "Raises will improve the situation. It will help attract people to work," Sherrill says.
The raise goes into effect immediately. The council vote comes just one day after county commissioners voted to increase pay for all other poll workers.
