Many Missouri counties still looking for poll workers mere weeks before presidential election

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (First Alert 4) – Amidst safety concerns, Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft said some Missouri counties are struggling to fill poll worker positions. He said the state could always use more poll workers.

“We have county clerks, local election authorities that have reduced the number of polling places they have, not for lack of a place to have it, not for lack of equipment, but because of the lack of enough individuals to actually fill that as poll workers,” Ashcroft said.

Kansas City election officials said they’re fully staffed but face security concerns after receiving a threatening piece of mail last week.

Elections officials across the state tell me security is heightened this year. Counties plan to have local law enforcement stationed at polling locations, some not in uniform. No other counties have reported any threats, but they are concerned about staffing.

“Our office coordinates with local law enforcement officials and to date, they’ve expressed no specific security concerns to us. It’s normal practice to have law enforcement in our office on Election Day to coordinate a response if necessary. That will be the case on November 5,” said Kate Springer with the St. Louis County elections office.

Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon is still recruiting poll workers. Lennon said hiring election judges is the biggest issue for her office year after year, but she thinks the county will have just enough by election day.

“We will get as many as we need, but just as many as we need; we really like to have a backup list in case an emergency happens for somebody on a Tuesday morning and at 4:30 in the morning they can’t come,” Lennon said.

Lennon’s issue is echoed across the state. Greene County and St. Louis County elections offices said the same thing: they still need more backups.

Greene County Clerk Shane Schoeller said the county is short four backup Democratic judges and two backup Republican judges. Counties need an even amount of election judges from both parties so they can have a bipartisan presence at every polling place.

A spokesperson for the St. Louis County elections office said the county is still searching for more Republican election judges, which is typical because the area is predominantly Democratic.

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