Voters, poll workers voice frustration with Board of Elections at public hearing

Coordinators are pleading for more specific training because many workers were still confused about ranked choice voting.

News 12 Staff

Jul 29, 2021, 12:03 AM

Updated 1,230 days ago

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Voters and poll workers voiced their frustrations with the Board of Elections at an hourslong public hearing on Wednesday. 
The goal of the hearing is to promote election reform. 
Poll workers say that 17-hour workdays with little pay make it almost impossible to recruit poll workers. 
Coordinators are pleading for more specific training because many workers were still confused about ranked choice voting. 
Stories were also shared about vastly understaffed polling sites at times when voter turnout was higher than it's ever been before. 
The BOE would not respond to News 12’s request for comment but posted on Twitter saying it had issued ranked choice voter instructional cards at polling sites. 
The board also said in a separate tweet that it considers every poll worker a hero.
The hearing is the first of many public hearings across the state, hosted by state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, which will culminate in Albany.