(TRENTON) – To ensure that election workers are receiving the pay they deserve, Assembly Democrats Robert Karabinchak (D-Middlesex) and Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen) sponsor legislation passed by the Assembly State and Local Government Committee that would raise the pay for election workers to at least $400 per day.
The bill (S-598/A-1527) would raise the pay of statewide poll workers for each General, Primary, and Special Election to $400 per day from $200 or the State minimum wage, whichever is greater. In June 2021, the Legislature and Governor enacted legislation increasing poll worker pay for the June Primary to $400 and the Governor activated the National Guard to supplement election duties. On October 5, 2021, Governor Murphy issued Executive Order 266 implementing $400 compensation for each poll worker per day.
Upon committee approval of the measure, Assembly members Karabinchak and Vainieri Huttle issued the following joint statement:
“Over the past few years, we have seen the important role our election workers have and how stressful the job can be. These workers have been in short supply and we must offer increased pay to assist in filling those roles. We want to ensure that workers are receiving the proper pay for the rigorous work they do. This measure will allow us to hire more poll workers and keep our elections more efficient with no added cost to our counties.”