Carbon County officials say they need poll workers after both resignations and the increasing coronavirus pandemic concern have left several gaps in Election Day coverage at precincts.

On Thursday, Lisa Dart, director of elections, said that the county is down over a dozen poll workers for the upcoming primary election next month and have precincts requesting backup workers.

“We are down a lot of poll workers, but we also have people who are worried about the virus who want backup workers,” Dart said. “People are worried A lot of our workers are 60-plus.” She noted that the counties are waiting on guidance from the Department of State on a lot of issues related to Act 77 changes and the pandemic.

Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein, who chairs the election board, said that he is calling this a “disaster” with the election changes and with the virus.

“It’s going to be year for elections,” he said.

Nothstein outlined vacancies in the precincts poll workers, which include four in East Side Borough, three each in Lausanne and Weissport; and two each in Penn Forest and Summit Hill.

In addition, Palmerton is requesting five backup workers due to the age of their poll workers.

People interested in working as a poll worker must be registered to vote, but can live anywhere in Carbon County, not just the precinct that has the vacancy. Poll workers are paid $140 per election for approximately 10 hours of work each of the two days of employment. They also receive compensation for any training that is required for the elections.

If you are interested, or have questions on becoming a poll worker, call the elections office at 570-325-4801.

In other election matters, Dart said that the bureau is still at a standstill because they have not received the new envelopes from the state to mail out the ballots and the state still hasn’t certified a ballot.

In addition, she offered actions her department will be taking on Election Day to add health safety measures and added privacy.

They will have cleaning materials to keep the machines and areas wiped down, and precincts will have hand sanitizer for anyone who needs it.

There will also be manila folders available to help keep ballots private.

Dart also said there has been a lot of mail-in ballot applications for the upcoming election so far.

On Thursday afternoon, Department of State Secretary Kathy Boockvar also reminded voters that the mail-in option is available to anyone up until 5 p.m. April 21. Registered Pennsylvania voters can apply for a mail-in ballot online at www.pavoterservices.pa.gov.

As of Thursday, Boockvar said more than 22,000 registered voters across the state have requested a mail-in ballot for the primary, while more than 40,000 have already signed up for an absentee ballot.

Mail-in ballots provide voters with the option of casting their vote by mail ahead of the election, but must be returned either by mail or to the county election office at 76 Susquehanna St., Jim Thorpe by 8 p.m. on election night.

For any other information regarding mail-in ballots, visit www.votespa.com or call the Carbon County Election Bureau.