Poll workers needed in some Allegheny County precincts as primary election prep continues

Election clerks are still needed in six municipalities and three of Pittsburgh’s wards, but most positions at polling places are filled and workers have been trained, Allegheny County Administrative Services Deputy Director Jessica Garofolo told the elections board Tuesday.

Allegheny County Councilman Sam DeMarco said Tuesday he is concerned that poll workers are still needed with less than two weeks before the May 18 primary.

There is a need for workers in Franklin Park, Kennedy, North Versailles, Port Vue, Whitaker and White Oak, along with Pittsburgh’s 13th, 118th and 28th wards, Garofolo said.

Overall, 75% of poll worker positions are filled, including 90% of the judges of election that oversee each of the county’s 1,323 precincts and 85% of the majority and minority inspectors of election that supervise the polls, she said.

About 500 of the workers have received in-person training and another 1,100 people have been trained online, Garofolo said.

An additional 500 poll workers were set to be trained in person and another 300 people scheduled to complete online training, she said.

The locations have changed for 52 precincts. Voters in those precincts will receive a notification in the mail about the change and the former location will have signage that directs voters to the new location.

All of the county’s ballot scanners have been tested and will be delivered to the polling locations, said Chet Harhut, deputy manager of the county’s Elections Division. In addition, the county has set up the North Side warehouse where votes are tabulated.

The process at the warehouse will be similar to the one used during the November election, albeit on a smaller scale, he said. It will include places for official election observers representing candidates and watchdog groups.

Reminder: Put a stamp on mail-in ballot envelopes

Elections Director David Voye told the board that more than 115,000 people have applied for a mail-in ballot.

Those ballots will require a stamp to be processed and people should include their return address on the envelope, Voye said. Although the envelopes are oversized, they only require one stamp, he said.

Allegheny County Councilwoman Bethany Hallam, who serves on the board with DeMarco and County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, said some people were confused about whether a stamp was needed.

The county will also have a drop box at the County Office Building, 542 Forbes Ave.

Ballots will be accepted between 8:30 a.m. and 8 p.m. May 12 through 14; from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 15; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. May 16; 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. May 17 and 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. May 18 (Election Day).

There is a wheelchair lift at the office building. If it is unattended, people should use a buzzer to alert staff.

There are 927,365 people who are registered to vote as of Tuesday, Voye said.

They include 531,361 Democrats, 262,203 Republicans and 133,801 who are affiliated with another party or who are independent, he said.

For more information about becoming a poll worker, click here.

For a list of voting locations or to find out where to vote, click here.