County in Dire Need of Help at Polls

Orange County’s registrar of voters is woefully short of workers to staff polling places for the March 2 primary, causing serious concern because voters will be using electronic voting machines for the first time.

Despite a massive effort to enlist poll workers, Registrar Steve Rodermund said he needed about 1,300 more. He’s hired a public relations firm and telephone solicitors to recruit workers.

Assistance is especially critical this election because of the rollout of the Hart eSlate voting system, which the county bought last year. Instead of punching holes in paper ballots, voters will turn a dial to highlight the candidate of their choice, then push a button to cast their vote. The machines resemble oversized electronic planners, about the size of a legal notebook.

Rodermund said he needed 7,000 workers to check voters’ eligibility and to assist them with the new equipment. The county will have more than 1,100 polling places.

“The fewer people you have, the less responsive you’re going to be to help those people with [questions about] the new system,” Rodermund said. “If you have two people there, all you can do is sign them in and give them an access code” to activate the machines.

Workers will be paid $20 to attend a training session and $50 for shifts as long as 14 hours on election day. The county Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to cancel its March 2 meeting to make it easier for county workers to help at polling places.

Rodermund said he was also encouraging high schools to give seniors the day off from school so they can work at the polls.

But the numbers are still far short, with three weeks remaining until election day.

“It’s a trend that unfortunately registrars of voters across the state are seeing. Fewer and fewer people” are signing up, Rodermund said. “I have 1.3 million registered voters and I can’t get 7,000 of them” to work.

Information is available by calling (888) OC-VOTES or at the registrar’s website, www.ocvote.com. Every registered voter in the county is eligible -- except those who are running for office, Rodermund said.