Election Workers Train For November Election

Election workers are training in San Joaquin County for the November election, most are seniors, but there's some new blood in the mix, too.

In this class, election workers are learning how to handle ballots.
In a four-hour training session they will learn how to use paper ballots, as well as electronic voting machines for the disabled and all polling procedures.

San Joaquin County needs about 2,000 workers for more than 300 precincts.
Ted Younessi is in charge of training and says many workers are retired, but 600 of them are high school students from 16 to 18 years old.

"And we need them because the average age of the poll workers is a lot older and they're not going to be around doing this all the time and we need to continue to have fresh young minds to go ahead and work the process."

Marissa Orozco was 18 when she started as an election worker and six years later she's still doing it.

"For the students, yeah, it's very fun, I like to, especially the younger people to get out, that's going to be the next generation to vote so that's important they get out there"

66-year-old Herbert Alexander has been handling elections for ten years.

"Some elections it's pretty good and some it's not. Smaller elections like we had last June hardly anybody showed up and that's disappointing."

The average pay for these workers for the training and election day is $165.

Younessi says in spite of being paid most workers feel they are volunteers for their community.

"If you do the hours and you think you're coming at six o'clock and you're maybe not leaving until ten, it's definitely a volunteer job."

90 percent of poll workers return for the next election.