The following article was originally published in the Ohio Capital Journal and published on News5Cleveland.com under a content-sharing agreement.
Twenty-three Ohio counties don’t have the minimum number of poll workers needed for Tuesday’s special election.
These counties don’t have enough poll workers as of Thursday morning: Ashtabula, Clermont, Columbiana, Coshocton, Defiance, Fulton, Greene, Harrison, Highland, Huron, Jefferson, Knox, Licking, Madison, Mahoning, Marion, Montgomery, Shelby, Stark, Trumbull, Van Wert, Warren and Washington.
Currently, 32,310 poll workers have signed up to help, according to the Ohio Secretary of State’s Poll Worker Tracker. That surpasses the statewide needed minimum, but some counties haven’t meet their local goal.
“While many Ohio counties have passed the minimum number of poll workers needed to conduct the election, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose set a goal of 115% of the minimum needed to ensure a sufficient number of poll workers is available in every county in case of an unforeseen circumstances,” the secretary of state said in a news release.
Fifty counties have not met their goal for poll workers as of Thursday morning: Ashtabula, Athens, Auglaize, Butler, Clark, Clermont, Clinton, Columbiana, Coshocton, Darke, Defiance, Delaware, Erie, Fayette, Fulton, Greene, Hamilton, Hancock, Harrison, Highland, Huron, Jackson, Jefferson, Knox, Lake, Licking, Lorain, Madison, Mahoning, Marion, Meigs, Montgomery, Noble, Paulding, Pike, Ross, Sandusky, Scioto, Seneca, Shelby, Stark, Summit, Trumbull, Van Wert, Vinton, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Williams, and Wood.
Of those 50 counties, 27 have met the minimum requirements of poll workers needed.
Poll workers are paid for their work on Election Day and Ohioans can sign up at VoteOhio.gov/DefendDemocracy.
Polls are open on Election Day from 6:30 a.m. through 7:30 p.m.
Follow OCJ Reporter Megan Henry on Twitter.
