Good news for Arlington election officials aiming to stock up on election officers for November’s general election: Most of those who worked the recent Democratic primary said they’ll do it again.
A total of 254 election officers worked county polls for the June 21 Democratic congressional primary, and 96 percent indicated they were “very likely” to return in the future, county election officials said.
The result is “encouraging for future retention,” county election staff said in a briefing of Electoral Board members.
(Also good news for both voters and election personnel: Because of the relatively low turnout on June 21, there were no wait times reported at any time during Election Day, officials said.)
A survey of election officers – who are paid between $175 and $230 for a loooooooong day of work – showed that 97 percent rated their pre-election training as “excellent” or “good,” and 96 percent rated the chief election officer at their precinct as “excellent” or “good.”
Arlington traditionally has not had a problem recruiting election officers; applications actually spiked during the pandemic era, perhaps because individuals thought of it as their civic duty to help out.