51 Wisconsin communities face a severe shortage of poll workers but can get help from the National G

[RandySF]

MADISON - More than 50 Wisconsin municipalities — many of them in rural areas — have a severe shortage of poll workers but can get help from the National Guard if they don't find more soon.

Meagan Wolfe, the director of the state Elections Commission, called the shortage of poll workers a small but significant problem. She said the situation is much better than it was for the April election for state Supreme Court, when the coronavirus pandemic had just emerged and election officials faced much greater shortages of poll workers.

"I think we're in a much better spot than we have ever been this year," Wolfe told reporters during a virtual news conference.

But the shortage in 51 communities is severe enough that they won't be able to open polling sites if they don't get more poll workers, Wolfe said.

Gov. Tony Evers in a separate news conference said he would deploy the National Guard to help those communities, just as he did for other elections this year.

"The National Guard will be there to make sure we have enough people working at the polls," the Democratic governor said.



https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/10/15/communities-poll-worker-shortages-get-help-national-guard/3667319001/

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. Because the older people who are traditionally poll workers are understandably

reluctant to do that this year, they should be recruiting young people, high school and college age kids.

[texasfiddler]

2. Rural counties? hmmmm! What would a republican Gov do if it was urban counties?

[book_worm]

3. Actually we are doing pretty well overall with poll workers here in WI

MADISON, Wis. -- Only about 180 poll workers out of roughly 30,000 are still needed to staff polling places in battleground Wisconsin, despite surging cases of the coronavirus in the key battleground state, the Wisconsin Elections Commission reported Thursday.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/handful-wisconsin-municipalities-poll-workers-73632366

The governor will staff any open positions with National Guard troops.

[Talitha]

4. Thanks, that's good to know!