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.”

Thousands of travelers scrambled to come back home to New Jersey Monday evening as Hurricane Milton threatened the Gulf Coast.

Some people paid six times more than the average cost of a flight to New Jersey from Florida. Several others were anxiously waiting on standby for any seats to open up.

Andy Kozma, of Edison, is among the fortunate few who were able to get on a flight from Key West— cutting his vacation short.

“All flights are full,” said Kozma. “Everywhere is standby. We’re just glad to have a seat.”

Like Kozma, Emma Anmol Singh, of Stewartsville, ended her vacation in the Sunshine State early. She only had one day of rest and relaxation as the waves threatened her beach stay.

“The storm was really picking up when we left. We were lucky to get a flight out,” said Singh. “We had to leave at 5 a.m. The roads were pretty bad. There was a lot of traffic and the airport obviously was already packed.”

According to a public statement by Tampa International Airport, commercial and cargo operations will be suspended Tuesday at 9 a.m. The airport will not be staffed for emergency services or supplies.

A statement on Orlando International Airport’s website states the airport will remain open to accept emergency aid and relief flights as necessary; however, commercial flights will stop on Wednesday.

Grayson Thompson, of Maplewood, a Florida Southern freshman received a message from his lacrosse coach warning him of the threat of the Category 5 hurricane.

“I booked a flight way early. I think I got a text Friday. This was the first flight I could get on,” said Thompson. “I had to take two connections, but now I’m home that’s all that matters.”

Austin Koolery, of River Vale, a University of Tampa senior, also was able to get out of the state safely. His mother began looking flights up as soon as she saw how devastating Hurricane Milton could be.

“She’s like, ‘Alright let me look at flights Tuesday. $150 Tuesday and $400 on Monday,’” said Koolery. “Ten minutes went by and she’s like. ‘They closed the airport on Tuesday. I’m getting you a Monday flight, you’re getting out of there.’ I got lucky.”

Koolery said his flight cost about $600 and he hasn’t heard from his airline about any emergency assistance.

While one lawsuit seeking to force the start of New York’s $15 congestion fee to enter lower Manhattan is moving forward, an attorney in New Jersey’s separate case to stop the fee has nudged a judge for a ruling.

Attorney Randy Mastro wrote U.S. District Court Senior Judge Leo M. Gordon on Friday informing him that a potential decision in a New York Superior Court case challenging New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s indefinite pause of the June 30 congestion pricing plan would mean the tolling plan could start.

And that affects New Jersey’s suit, filed in July 2023, that was the subject of oral arguments in Newark in April. New Jersey’s suit seeks to overturn federal approvals that allowed congestion pricing to proceed. At the end of those hearings, Gordon said he planned to render a decision before the June 30 start date, but Hochul’s unexpected announcement bought some time.