Measure would increase hiring of young people as poll workers

COLUMBUS — Legislation proposed by a Columbus-area lawmaker would allow election boards to hire additional teens and college students to help on election days.

Rep. Larry Wolpert, a Republican from Hilliard, was primary sponsor of a similar bill that passed through the last General Assembly, allowing one high school senior, age 17 or older, to serve as a poll worker each election.

His new bill would increase the number to two in precincts with six or more poll workers and allow college students who are registered to vote in Ohio to work in precincts where they attend school. An Ohio State University student from Vinton County, for example, would be allowed to serve on election day in Franklin County, where the university is located, Wolpert said. The bill is still pending in the Legislature.

The earlier bill “has been used through several election cycles and has helped address poll-worker shortages in many counties,” he said.

Wolpert, citing a recent poll of high school students who worked in precincts since the earlier legislation was enacted, said 81 percent of students who participated were younger than 18, 99 percent said they would continue to vote in the future and 72 percent said they would serve as poll workers again.