Crawford County Board of Elections OKs Blooming Valley polling move and raises poll-worker pay

The Crawford County Board of Elections on Jan. 8 voted to begin the formal process to move the Blooming Valley polling place from the Blooming Valley Volunteer Fire Department to Blooming Valley Methodist Church and approved increases to poll-worker compensation for 2025.

Director of Elections Jessalyn Carr told the board the Methodist Church is ADA compliant, has ample parking and is closely allied with Blooming Valley community leaders; the board opened the proposal for a two-week public comment period as required by statute before finalizing the change. "It's ADA compliant with plenty of parking," Carr said while describing the site visit and the church's accommodation of election operations.

Why it matters: Polling location changes must be posted for public comment. Moving to a church location is intended to reduce potential disruptions at a volunteer fire station and provide easier access for voters.

The board also revisited poll-worker compensation approved during last year's high-turnout elections and adopted the following top-of-scale increases for typical precinct staffing (all top-tier daily rates are for an approximately 13-hour work day, as described during the discussion): - Judge of elections: increase from $121 to $130 per day. - Minority inspector/clerks/student poll workers (top rate): increase from $115 to $125 per day. - Constables: increase from $100 to $110 per day. - Election-night return stipend for the judge or designee: increase from $20 to $25 per trip; secondary official stipend from $8 to $10. - Poll-worker training stipend: increase from $20 for a two-hour session to $25; mileage to remain at the IRS rate.

Carr said the increases average about 8% and are intended as a modest retention incentive after many longtime poll workers signaled they might not continue after the 2024 presidential election. The board noted that commonwealth election-integrity funding is available to support such retention measures.

The board also reorganized leadership for the Board of Elections: Commissioner Christopher R. Seeley was nominated and voted to serve as chair of the local election board; a vice chair was appointed; Commissioner Eric S. Henry was moved to the position of secretary of the board of elections and that appointment recorded an abstention by Henry on the roll call for that office (Henry abstained; Seeley and Schell voted yes where recorded).

All three measures — initiating the Blooming Valley polling-location change, approving the compensation schedule, and the board reorganizations — were approved by the board during the Jan. 8 session.