NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — As early voting began across Arkansas in the second go-round with the state among the Super Tuesday primaries, the early date has created a pinch for election officials to get enough poll workers in time.
"The more workers we have the better," said Joshua Price, a Pulaski County Election Commissioner. "We normally have about 1,200 in the books. We need a little bit over a thousand to really get the job done, and I think we have around 900 right now."
It helped that early voting at the William Lamen Library in North Little Rock began on a very rainy day. That suppressed turnout for the 10 or so staff members manning the polling location. When firing on all cylinders, the team can churn 100-125 voters through the booths.
"This is probably my fifth time to come in here," said Vicky Kirchner, a poll worker who greets voters as they enter and has them fill out paperwork. It's a role she loves.
"I am a people person," she said. "I go to church with [the election judge] and she hit me up and she said 'I need you.'"
Kirchner and her husband, Archie, are typical, retired poll workers, picking up some extra cash from the part time job. Other younger workers take advantage of other incentives beyond a paycheck.
"If you are a college student and you don't really need the money and you'd rather get volunteer hours as a part of a civic organization, you can go that route, too," said Price.
"It's a great experience; especially during a presidential election year. And it really teaches you about what's going on behind the scenes as far as our voting process," he said.
"It's a really good job," Kirchner said. "It's fun and easy, so go sign up."