Elections Canada is hiring over 250,000 poll workers to help facilitate the upcoming federal election.
Quinte News spoke with Elections Canada representative Réjean Grenier about the help needed on September 20.
“As in any election we require a lot of people to run an election. In the last election, for example, we hired 230,000 people. That’s a lot of people! In this election, it’s a short election, therefore we need to hire them faster. And, yes, we still need some people in most of the polling stations on election day.”
One thing that sets this election apart from elections past is the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the ongoing threat of COVID-19 in the country, voting will be held with COVID-19 regulations in place.
Grenier explained some of the precautions.
“Everybody has to wear a mask, this is the Ontario rules, so we respect that. Polling places will be disinfected regularly during the day, our workers will be wearing masks, some of them will even have face shields if they deal with the public a lot, so it’s going to be a safe environment.”
The criteria for being a poll worker includes being at least 16 years old and being a Canadian citizen as of election day.
The pay ranges from $17.22 to $23.44 depending on the position and poll workers will be paid $54.65 for the training beforehand.
Anybody interested in being a poll worker can call their local Elections Canada office or can do so online on the Elections Canada website.
