Polk County auditor highlights election office upgrades, QR-code results and poll-worker pay proposal

Jamie Fitzgerald, Polk County’s elected auditor, described the newly opened county election office and said the office’s budget varies with the election cycle: this year’s request focuses on the November general election and associated operating costs. Fitzgerald said the office expects to meet the 1% reduction by using payment-card rebates and other administrative offsets rather than cuts to core functions.

Fitzgerald said the county expects roughly $22,000 in unclaimed fees to revert to county accounts and noted maintenance agreements for new voting equipment will increase costs after initial purchase years. He highlighted a process that uploads unofficial election-night results via QR code rather than phone modems (which the state now bans for security reasons), calling the QR-code uploads a user-friendly method that reduces poll-worker burden and noting Polk County has used the system in recent elections.

The auditor proposed a decision package to raise poll-worker pay (current range $15–$18 per hour) but did not include the increase in this base budget; the proposal would be considered separately. In response to supervisor questions about time-stamp drop boxes, Fitzgerald said Polk County uses secured drop boxes and is evaluating time-stamp-capable boxes but will delay major purchases until legislative clarity about drop-box rules.

County Administrator Frank called the auditor’s budget responsible and recommended it as presented; no formal vote took place during the hearing.