Fulton County needs hundreds of workers to staff polling places during multiple elections this year. The Department of Registration & Elections is hiring now, and will hold several recruitment fairs.
Three recruiting events took place in December. Two more are scheduled, and more will be announced soon.
For each election the county needs to staff 193 polling places on Election Day, 37 early voting sites, and five university outreach locations.
Although multiple people will be needed at each polling place, most of those workers won’t be new hires. About 85% to 90% of poll workers come back year after year, according to county Voter Education Manager LaShandra Little.
Jurisdictions around the country have reported high turnover among election officials, driven by harassment from people angry over results of the 2020 presidential election. But although workers in Fulton County faced threats and conspiracy theories after the 2-to-1 margin for Democrats here was crucial in flipping Georgia’s electoral votes to President Joe Biden, Little said that hasn’t hurt recruitment for 2024.
“The criticism has actually motivated some people to contact the office to work,” she said.
Recruiting fairs will be held at 9 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at the Godby Road Community Center, 2300 Godby Road, in College Park; and at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 20, at Roswell City Hall, 38 Hill St.
More dates will be announced for recruiting events in Chattahoochee Hills, East Point, Johns Creek, Sandy Springs, South Fulton and Union City.
To qualify as a poll worker, people must:
- Be a U.S. citizen and at least 16 years old.
- Live or work in Fulton County, or live in an adjacent county.
- Be able to work 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Election Day and perform some duties the Sunday and Monday before the election.
- Attend poll worker training.
- Be able to read, write and speak English.
- Have reliable transportation.
Election officials try to assign workers to locations near where they live, Little said. Training will take place at four locations across the county, she said.
People willing to work during early voting must be able to commit to five weeks, including weekends, from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. That includes training, setup, opening and closing the polls, and reconciling documents. Part-time work is available.
Available positions are technician, poll manager, assistant manager, clerk and line monitor, Little said. People will be cross-trained to potentially work all those jobs except for technician, she said. Positions pay $17 to $23 an hour, including during training.
For more information contact pollworkersupport@fultoncountyga.gov or call 404-612-7020.
The county’s proposed budget, to be approved this month, includes $35 million to pay for elections. There will be at least three, possibly five: a presidential primary, general primary election, possible primary runoff, general election, and possible general runoff. Early voting for the presidential primary starts as early as Feb. 19, and if needed a general election runoff could be held Dec. 3.
Fulton, the state’s largest county, has more than 1 million residents and more than 800,000 registered voters.
County election operations have been consolidated from three locations to one, the new Fulton County Elections Hub & Operations Center. The 600,000-square-foot warehouse at 5600 Campbellton Fairburn Road in Union City opened over the summer. It has plenty of room for ballot counting, equipment storage, and even a cafeteria for the crowd of workers who will be there on election nights.
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