Board of elections official tells committee poll‑worker protections and half‑day shifts would boost recruitment

A Putnam County board of elections member told the House Commerce and Labor Committee that House Bill 180 would make it easier to recruit and retain poll workers by protecting them from adverse employment actions and allowing optional half‑day shifts.

Tony Schrader, a member of the Putnam County Board of Elections, said Ohio’s election administration depends on a large pool of citizen poll workers and that the state cannot run elections without them. He described poll‑worker recruitment as a growing challenge, particularly in rural counties, and said many trained workers decline service because they cannot manage a full 14‑hour day.

"Passage of this bill to ensure that poll workers will not face adverse employment action as a result of their public service will increase the number of potential poll workers immediately," Schrader said. He added that permitting half‑day shifts would widen the available pool, including employed people who could take a morning or afternoon shift.

Representative Hoops asked how the bill would affect high school students aged 18 who serve as poll workers; Schrader said students already help in many counties and the half‑day option could make service easier for them and for employed residents.

Schrader also noted that the bill is bipartisan and that county boards try to maintain bipartisan staffing at polling places; he said the proposed changes would help keep that balance by increasing the number of available poll workers.

The committee recorded Schrader’s proponent testimony at a second hearing on the bill and noted that the committee had received a late amendment outlining split‑shift language that staff would review.