Los Angeles County officials are actively recruiting poll workers, particularly those who are bilingual, for the upcoming primary election on June 3.
Los Angeles County requires about 25,000 poll workers to run every election, said Regina Ip, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Registrar, in an email statement.
For the election, about 17,000 poll workers have been recruited as of Saturday, and the County hopes to find 1,250 more, Ip said. Specifically, the County is searching for bilingual individuals to target non-English-speaking communities in Los Angeles.
Ip said the County currently needs poll workers who are bilingual in English and in one of 17 foreign languages. Speakers of Spanish, Korean, Chinese and Vietnamese are needed at every poll station throughout the county, Ip said.
Students from high school or college who are 16 or older may pitch in as poll workers. As of Saturday, about 80 to 90 college student poll workers will be serving polling stations around UCLA, Ip said.
Poll workers’ duties include setting up poll stations on election day, guiding voters through the voting process and counting the ballots after stations close at the end of the day.
John Vollbrecht, 66, who has been a poll worker for close to 10 years, said he believes poll workers “help keep the election system honest.”
As an inspector, Vollbrecht is in charge of up to four assistants at a poll station.
“We have to make sure there are no double ballots, no hanky panky by the voters or the workers,” Vollbrecht said.
Since January, permanent legal residents have been allowed to become poll workers because of Assembly Bill 817, which gave many permanent legal residents who are not yet citizens, some who are bilingual, the opportunity to pitch in at the polls.
Raymond Luna, a second-year political science student who worked as a poll worker last year in Pasadena, said he was the only Spanish-speaking poll worker at his station. Luna said there were many Spanish-speaking voters who needed his help to understand the ballot and voting process.
Luna said he does not plan to work as a poll worker in this election because he does not have enough time.
“You have to be there from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at night on a Tuesday. … No one really has any time to do that,” he said.
Poll workers are hardest to recruit for primary elections because of low voter participation and the summer vacation period, Ip said. In the last statewide primary election in 2010, voter turnout was about 23 percent, according to the registrar records.
Gerome Sunga, a second-year biochemistry student, said he sees no point in voting in California elections because he does not think his vote will sway an election.
“I generally know how the election is going to turn out, so I don’t think my vote is going to count much,” Sunga said.
Luna, however, said he still believes voting is important.
“If you don’t vote, you really have no right to complain about the problems you have with the government,” he said.