GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) — You may notice a few new faces–behind masks and barriers, of course–at your polling station if you’re opting to vote in-person for the April 7th election.
With a serious shortage of poll workers in the face of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Wisconsin National Guard is sending guardsmen to work at polling places.
“The guardsmen at polling stations would be performing the same role as any volunteer poll worker,” Guard Captain Joe Travato told WTAQ.
Municipalities across the state have been grappling with poll workers, many of them elderly, declining to volunteer over fears of COVID-19. In Green Bay, the typical stock of around 270 poll workers fell to just 17.
“The role is that we have a fair number of personnel available in the Wisconsin National Guard,” said Travato. “So we’re a ready source of manpower to help this democratic process play out.”
The soldiers and airmen will be in civilian uniforms while they work and keeping safe the same way any other poll worker would.
“We’re going to follow the same guidance provided to the Wisconsin Elections Commission by DHS,” Travato said.
The guard members will work at the polling places in the counties that they live in as required by state law.
