Poll workers needed for upcoming elections

ANTIGO — Antigo City Hall is seeking several more workers for the fast-approaching April 2 election, as well as the general election in November.

City of Antigo Clerk and Treasurer Kaye Matucheski, who is supervising election preparations, said approximately five more workers are needed to fully staff the April 2 event.

“There has to be so many working in different areas. If I don’t get them next week, I’ll make some phone calls or use some of my staff here if need be. We have nine wards in the city, so there’s nine separate tables set up.”

“I need two workers at each one of those tables, and then where the machines are, there’s workers there also, plus then the ones that sit to register people. So they each have their own station,” said Matucheski.

Those interested in applying must be able to read and write English. Only qualified electors in Langlade County — in other words, those eligible to vote — will be accepted, allowed to attend training Tuesday or Thursday next week, and finally to help run the April 2 election. Those running for office in the current election or under the age of 18 will also not be considered.

“On election day, if it’s a full shift, they start at 6:30 in the morning and they don’t get out of here until everything is balanced and counted, which hopefully for this type of election will be 9:30 or 10 p.m. at night. They check the proof of ID, they give you your ballot, and then at the end of the night, they do the paperwork like the tally sheets. They don’t have to count ballots because the machine does that,” said Matucheski of the duties poll workers, who will receive something like $12 per hour, must fulfill.

Matucheski said training poll workers receive helps maintain election integrity.

“The integrity of the elections is very important, and having quality, trained workers,” Matucheski said. “You don’t want any questions on how you run elections, so we have some very, very good and dedicated workers in Antigo. They learn what to look for on photo IDs and what to do if someone has an absentee ballot and they want to come vote again, that type of thing. So there’s a lot of things that they have to be aware of for election day.”

Preparation for the election is currently ramping up: 275 ballots have already been mailed in or filled out in early voting, according to Matucheski.

“We are working on the public test now because the machines have to be tested,” she said. “Then next week I’ll be training election workers. In person absentee voting started, so we have some people coming in to vote. We also mail out absentee ballots. So all of that is going on now.”

Those interested in becoming election poll workers can contact Matucheski at 715-623-3633 ext 102 or kmatucheski@antigo-city.org.