poll workers

The Hoosier Hall Pass allows 16- and 17-year-old students to work at voting centers in Indiana on Election Day.

According to the federal Election Administration and Voting Survey, 57.5 percent of Hoosier poll workers in the 2022 election were older than 60.

At issue is a southern Indiana poll worker who attempted to challenge someone she believed to be a Democrat voting on a Republican ticket.

Indiana needs thousands of poll workers to staff its more than 5,000 precincts, according to a January 2024 pamphlet from the Indiana Secretary of State’s Office.

Current law makes it a Level 6 felony to obstruct, interfere with or injure an election officer while they’re on the job. But that law doesn’t necessarily cover everyone who’s working or volunteering at the polling place.

Several Indiana counties are experiencing shortages in poll workers.

A state law allowing counties to hire high school students as poll workers fills gaps in election staff for several counties around the state — both large and small.

The League of Women Voters expressed concern about staffing for the 2024 election in an open letter to Monroe County Clerk Nicole Browne Tuesday.

Although Democratic recruiters have filled their required slots to supervise election sites, Republicans are short about two dozen poll workers.