Everything you need to know about becoming a poll worker in New Jersey

How much do you earn as a poll worker?

New Jersey poll workers earn $300, which equals $21.43 an hour. Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill in March of 2022 increasing the pay from $200 to $300, to help attract more poll workers.

Thompson said, “We also are allowed to pay you for transporting the materials back to the Board of Elections, or picking up the voting machine keys in the morning, so for each district that you’ve got it’s $12.50 to pick up keys from your municipal clerk, or to deliver all the materials back at the end of the night, that’s also an additional $12.50, so someone could earn more than $300.”

How are poll workers recruited?

Besides word of mouth, Thompson said, “We do this through social media, through advertising, there’s portals on the State Division of Elections website.”

She said most New Jersey counties are still accepting applications. “Normally right before an election we’re short, sometimes 20% of what our needs are, but usually we get more applications than we can fill in a presidential year. People want to get involved.”

How many poll workers are in each polling location?

New Jersey law stipulates the minimum number of poll workers in a voting location on Election Day needs to be four, but Thompson said, “There isn’t one election, except for a presidential election where we’re compliant with that, because we’re short (workers) every single, solitary year.”

What happens if there’s a problem?

Thompson said county Boards of Election have supervising poll workers, sometimes called runners or floor managers, who will respond to different voting locations within a district if any problem arises.

“These are the folks who are the one point of contact if something goes wrong,” said Thompson. “These are the ones that we rely on to maybe fix the paper jam or help the voter call for assistance if there’s an issue with their voter registration.”

She said whatever issues may arise, “Don’t leave your polling location unsatisfied, or without calling your Board of Elections. If you’re denied the right to help, we want to help you.”