Pennsylvania tallies up votes for poll workers, amid shortage of candidates
Pennsylvania voters went to the polls last week to help carry on a centuries-old practice that no other state does: elections to choose their election workers.
“It was a great idea in the 1800s that they never got rid of,” said Thad Hall, Mercer County’s election director, who just oversaw a primary to select the Democratic and Republican candidates for more than 150 poll worker positions.
Counties are still finalizing the results from the May 20 election. The counting includes the slow process of tabulating write-in votes, as many races don’t have candidates listed on the ballot. In Mercer County, roughly 50% of the positions did not have a nominated candidate, Hall said, and he suspects “a lot” of his open positions won’t have a candidate on the ballot in November, either.
There are over 9,000 voting precincts in the state, and each has three positions that need to be elected: a judge of election, and a majority and minority inspector. That means every four years, the state needs to elect more than 27,000 workers. Rarely are there enough candidates to compete in all those races.
https://penncapital-star.com/election-2025/pennsylvania-tallies-up-votes-for-poll-workers-amid-shortage-of-candidates/