The Lake County Board of Elections heard from three poll workers about their complaints with the training process Tuesday after receiving an update on the online poll worker training.
As poll workers have started utilizing online training, the workers have experienced some “hiccups,” said board attorney Carly Brandenburg, which is to be expected when moving a system online.
“There were some user errors. There were some difficulties. That’s OK, I think we’re going to have provisions to work toward improving those problems for the next round so that we can make sure that it’s more seamless for the next election,” Brandenburg said.
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Lake County Clerk Michael Brown said he appreciates the option for online training but would also encourage poll workers to take advantage of in-person training.
“People come to vote in person. In my experience over the years of watching the training sessions, I know some people have some concerns about whether or not a person completed this, that and the other, but I still believe that option needs to be there for people to come to in-person training,” Brown said.
Lake County Board of Elections and Registration Director Michelle Fajman said the office will continue to hold one in-person training session on a Saturday ahead of Election Day.
Board member Charlene Foss-Eggemann said she agreed with Brown. During the May primary’s Inspector Saturday, held the Saturday ahead of an election for inspectors to pick up election equipment, Foss-Eggemann said she talked to poll workers who had varying opinions on the online training.
Some of the veteran poll workers were upset with the online training because they expressed a preference for in-person training, Foss-Eggemann said. But some poll workers, like a mom of a young child, said she appreciated the online training and that she would reference the online videos on Election Day if questions were raised, she said.
“We need to meet people where they are and their preferred learning method,” Foss-Eggemann said.
The board voted to ratify poll worker payments for training and on Election Day for the May primary.
Carol Parker, a poll worker coordinator in Highland, addressed the board during public comment that the election directors should consider having poll workers from both parties meet ahead of the election to “discuss strategies that could improve the outcomes and the fairness of the elections and the polls.”
For example, poll workers have to sign an affidavit, which states that the poll opened at 6 a.m. and closed at 6 p.m. and about poll pads, Parker said. But Parker said she’s filed a records request with the office and found that many poll workers don’t sign the affidavit.
For the May primary, Parker said poll workers were told that there wouldn’t be in-person training on Inspector Saturday unless the worker is an inspector or a student.
“We want to make it very clear that the communication between what the poll workers are hearing has to be consistent, and it should come from the election board because they have the credibility,” Parker said.
Luci Sadlowski, a poll worker coordinator in Gary, said she recruited 35 students to be poll workers in the 2024 elections, and about a quarter of them didn’t have a good experience because they were “aggressively greeted by inspectors.” For the May primary, Sadlowski said only one student of those who didn’t have a good experience in 2024 returned.
During her time as a poll worker in Hammond, Sadlowski said the inspector was really kind but had the poll workers sign many forms ahead of the polls opening “to make it quicker for us leaving.” Sadlowski said she heard the same practice was utilized in the May primary.
Sadlowski said in-person training should be an option, especially for senior citizens who have been poll workers for years but want to review. Sadlowski said many senior citizen poll workers had to go to the library to complete the online training.
In-person training will also help attract and retain younger poll workers, Sadlowski said.
“Anybody that’s brand new, they have no idea of what they need to do. They want to do it right, they want to do it legally, and they want to do it so that we have responsible voting in Lake County,” Sadlowski said.
Jeff Rosignol, who has worked as a poll worker, said in-person training “is absolutely necessary.”
“The training needs to be reinforced and taken to a higher level so that people can be comfortable when they walk in, as opposed to most of the people, when they walk in, especially the new ones, are intimidated right off the bat,” Rosignol said.
The board also approved a county election report for the May primary that lists that of the 367,284 registered voters, 40,381 voted in-person on Election Day, and19,484 voted either absentee by mail, early in-person, travel board, or military and overseas.
The total votes cast in the May primary were 59,865, according to the report.
“Not a phenomenal turnout, but thank you to all those who voted and encourage everyone who didn’t vote to make sure that they look forward to voting in November,” said board president Kevin Smith.
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