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Kentucky offers portal to apply as election poll worker

Poll worker Jayantha Fernando organizes documents at a polling site in Hackensack, N.J., Tuesday, July 7, 2020. Voters have until 8 p.m. to have their ballot postmarked or dropped at one of at least five boxes per county. Half of the polling places in each county must also stay open for voters to cast a ballot in person, though that means they must use a provisional ballot that will be counted once officials determine one has not been mailed to county election officials already. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams has unveiled a process for voters to apply to serve as poll workers for the November election.

The Poll Worker Volunteer Portal is now available, Adams said Tuesday. The portal submits applications to each applicant’s county clerk, who then will contact the volunteer, he said.


The number of poll workers in Kentucky is critically low, Adams said.

The state is trying to recruit poll workers amid the coronavirus pandemic. The availability of poll workers will dictate how many polling locations are available on Election Day, he said.

The portal makes it “easy to serve your community by volunteering to work the polls,” Adams said.

“Whatever your politics, we need your help so we can offer in-person voting, and also so we can ask less of our elderly poll workers who usually volunteer,” he said.