Rochester Hills, Oakland Township to hire election inspectors

ROCHESTER HILLS/OAKLAND TOWNSHIP — Many snowbirds have headed to warmer climates for the winter, which is creating a hurdle for many local clerks who are looking for election inspectors.

Rochester Hills City Clerk Leanne Scott said the township is in dire need of election inspectors for its precincts and the Absentee Ballot Counting Board for the Feb. 27 presidential primary election.

“The presidential primary is always a hard one, because we have a lot of snowbirds, and many people take vacations, so it’s difficult to get workers,” she explained.

Rochester Hills typically hires 300-450 election workers for a presidential cycle, with anywhere from eight to 10 people assigned to cover each of the city’s 32 precincts, and many others on the Absentee Ballot Counting Board.

“We have some workers right now, but we can always use more. This is a great election to train people for the August and November elections, which will be much busier,” Scott said.

Inspectors will be stationed at one of 32 precincts throughout Rochester Hills and will help prepare the precinct prior to the opening of the polls, help voters through the voting process throughout the day and assist in closing the precinct after the polls close at 8 p.m.

Absentee Ballot Counting Board election inspectors will open, separate and count all absentee ballots received by the City Clerk’s Office until all ballot counting is complete.

Clerks in Rochester Hills and Oakland Township are hoping community members will step up to assist this year to make sure precincts and absentee counting boards are adequately staffed.

Oakland Township Deputy Clerk Roxanne Thatcher said elections rely on local people being involved.

Oakland Township typically hires around 60-65 election workers for a presidential cycle, with six or seven people assigned to cover each of the township’s eight precincts and at least 10 others on the Absentee Ballot Counting Board.

“Because they put the election in February, some of my snowbirds are still gone … so we are still in need of election workers,” Thatcher said. “I’m probably short around 20 people.”

In the township, inspectors will work with the chairperson, co-chairperson and other inspectors to: set up the precinct on Election Day morning and put everything away at night; have voters fill out an application, check voter ID and direct voters in the precinct; verify voters are eligible to vote and voting in the proper precinct; record voters in the pollbook; assign ballots; help tabulate ballots; and close precincts after voting has ended.

“I’m a true believer in: if you are going to question the process, you should be part of the process. This is a great way to see all of the steps that we follow and all the verifications that we do,” Thatcher said.

All election inspectors must be at least 18 years old and be a qualified and registered elector of the state of Michigan. Inspectors do not need to be a resident of the municipality they choose to work in, but in order to be considered, they cannot have a felony conviction on their record.

Those who meet these requirements and are interested can download an election inspector application for Rochester Hills at www.rochesterhills.org or Oakland Township at www.oaklandtownship.org. Teens ages 16-17 can also work as precinct inspectors with parental or guardian permission and a state of Michigan work permit.

Rochester Hills pays its election inspectors approximately $180-$230 for the day, 6 a.m.-9 p.m., plus $25 for a two-hour training session.

Oakland Township pays its election inspectors approximately $175-$225 a day, 6 a.m.-9 p.m., with a $25 training stipend and a $10 meal stipend provided.

At press time, Rochester Deputy City Clerk Brian D’Annunzio said the city of Rochester has all the election workers it needs for its six precincts.

“We’re pretty lucky, because … a lot of the people have been doing it for years now,” he said.

For more information, call the Rochester Hills City Clerk’s Office at (248) 656-4630 or email browns@rochesterhills.org. The Oakland Township Clerk’s Office can be reached at (248) 651-4440 or elections@oaklandtownship.org.