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Consent-General Government # 10.
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| Board of Supervisors |
Clerk-Recorder/Assessor/Elections |
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| Subject |
| Approve Yolo County Employee Volunteer Poll Worker Program. (No general fund impact) (Pogledich/Martinez) |
| Recommended Action |
| Approve Yolo County Employee Volunteer Poll Worker Program. |
| Strategic Plan Goal(s) |
| Operational Excellence |
| Reason for Recommended Action/Background |
The Elections Department continues to have difficulty recruiting qualified and interested citizens to serve as poll workers, particularly in countywide elections. The Yolo County Employee Volunteer Poll Worker Program will provide a needed recruiting source and will provide an incentive to Yolo County employees who wish to serve as poll workers.
The Yolo County Employee Volunteer Poll Worker Program will allow Yolo County employees to volunteer as poll workers on Election Day without having to use accrued leave balances.
ELIGIBILITY
Typically, to serve as a poll worker a person must be a registered voter and must serve in a polling place in their county of residence. However, California Election Code section 12302(a) allows county employees to serve in a polling place outside of their county of residence. In addition, county employees must attend a Poll Worker Training class(es) provided by the Yolo County Elections Department. Volunteer Judges must attend one (1) training class and volunteer Inspectors must attend three (3) training classes. Training classes are provided throughout Yolo County. Employees will receive $20.00 for each full training class they attend; but the training stipend is forfeited if the employee does not volunteer on Election Day. A schedule of the Poll Worker Training classes is attached to this staff report as Attachment A.
FUNCTIONALITY
Interested Yolo County employees must request and receive approval from their Department Head for an absence in order for the employee to serve in a polling place on Election Day. The employee would not be required to use any accrued leave balances for the absence and would receive regular pay for hours normally scheduled to work from their department.
Employees will not receive overtime compensation for serving as a poll worker on Election Day. The Fair Labor Standards Act (USC Title 29, Section 207, (p)(2)) provides: “If an employee of a public agency which is a State, political subdivision of a State, or an interstate government agency undertakes on a an occasional or sporadic basis and solely at the employee’s option, part-time employment for the public agency which is in a different capacity from any capacity in which the employee is regularly employed with the public agency, the hours such employee was employed in performing the different employment shall be excluded by the public agency in the calculation of the hours for which the employee is entitled to overtime compensation under this section.”
If a Yolo County employee volunteers in a polling place on Election Day for more hours than they were normally scheduled to work on that day, the employee would be paid the same stipend and allowances that are paid to all non-County employee poll workers. The employee would not be required to forfeit any stipend or allowance. The current Poll Worker stipends and allowances begin at $130.00 for Judges and $155.00 for Inspectors. A schedule of Poll Worker stipends and allowances is included in Attachment A to this staff report. |
| Collaborations (including Board advisory groups and external partner agencies) |
| Elections and Human Resources |
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| Fiscal Impact |
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| Source of Funds for this Expenditure |
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