Serving as minority inspector for elections at the polling place in La Plume Twp. keeps Nancy Bird connected to her neighbors.
"You get to see everybody and you know everybody and they come in all the time," said Mrs. Bird, whose husband, Derry, serves as judge of elections in the same voting precinct. "And it's very important."
Judges of election and majority and minority inspectors of elections are "very important."
Town by town, voting precinct by voting precinct, they basically run the show on Election Day, signing in voters, ensuring the right to vote is respected and everybody plays by the rules.
"They are the first line of defense in ensuring that we have fair elections," said Lackawanna County Republican Party Chairman Lance Stange Jr., who has actually appointed a person to find candidates for the posts.
He's had to do so because finding people interested in running for election to the posts is getting harder, which winds up complicating life for county director of elections Marion Medalis.
Judge of elections and majority and minority inspector are elected every four years, and this year is the year for that, but Mrs. Medalis must find fill-ins if no one runs for the posts.
So Mrs. Medalis is trying to get the word out that the positions are available and encouraging people to run for them. Mrs. Medalis is especially keen on finding people who speak Spanish because of the county's growing Latino community.
"There's always a need for judges and inspectors," she said. "It's good if we can get them elected. ⦠It's getting harder."
So hard that Mrs. Medalis typically has to find about 170 people to have appointed to the posts for every election. Often, the appointments must come from outside the territory a voting precinct covers.
"We are using more people that are working outside their districts," she said.
While doing so is perfectly legal, elections from within a precinct more often mean judges and inspectors more familiar with a precinct's voters and less chance of fraud.
There are 489 posts to fill - a judge of elections and a majority and minority inspector for each of the county's 163 precincts. That's a lot of posts to fill and, more and more often, too few candidates for them.
"I think it's happening more and more because a lot of the judges have been judges for years and years and years and, for lack of a better term, they're aging out," said attorney Harry McGrath, chairman of the county Democratic Party.
Other reasons for a shortage of poll workers include the long hours for relatively low pay, the need to take time off from work and the increased complexity - to some people - associated with operating computerized voting machines.
Someone seeking to get on the May 21 primary election ballot to run for judge of elections must obtain 10 signatures of registered voters from their party. The petitions must be notarized. A notary public may charge a small fee to notarize a petition, but there is no fee for filing petitions with the county Department of Elections.
Candidates for inspector must gather five signatures on petitions.
If both parties have candidates who earn nominations, the candidates will face each other in the Nov. 5 election.
For judge of elections, the winner is the person with the most votes. For inspectors, the top vote-getter becomes majority inspector, the second-place finisher minority inspector.
The period for gathering signatures is going on now and the deadline for filing petitions is March 12, the same as for any other office on the ballot this year.
The salary for judges of election is $140 plus $5 for bringing back returns on election night plus mileage. That will go up to $155 next year plus the $5 and mileage for returning the results.
Inspectors will earn $105 a day this year and will get a raise to $115 next year. They do not get the extra $5 or the mileage because they are not part of bringing in election returns.
The winners work primary elections in the spring and general elections in November.
The hours are long.
Judges and inspectors usually arrive at a voting precinct as early as 6 a.m. to set up for the 7 a.m. opening of polling places. Polls close at 8 p.m. and it can take a couple of hours to tabulate votes, secure machines and return vote totals to the Department of Elections.
"It's a long day, No. 1. A lot of people have to use either a personal day or a vacation day from work and some people don't want to do that. I wish there were other alternatives, but there are not," Mrs. Medalis said.
But remember it's only twice a year and the upside is ensuring the integrity of voting, the basis for the American democratic system.
"They are critically important," Mr. Stange said.
For further details on running for the positions, call the Department of Elections at 963-6737.
Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com