County Chief Elections Officer Warren Slocum and County Supervisor Mark Church will bring a measure to create the Peninsula Democracy Corps before the Board of Supervisors for a vote on Aug. 6.

County workers who spend the 15-hour day with voters would earn up to $125 and continue to draw their regular County government salary.

According to County tallies, approximately 2,000 pollworkers are required at 500 polling places in a Countywide election. They work from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Election Day. They are also paid $25 for two hours of training beforehand.

The majority of poll workers are currently senior citizens, officials said.

About 12 percent of poll workers drop out a month before the election and 2 percent of those cancel out the day before.

"Such last-minute cancellations place a burden on the planning and smooth operations of the election process," Church said. "Having a dependable pool of poll workers is vital."

The County would call for local government workers to volunteer for Election Day duty and train them prior to elections. Employees called for poll duty would not have to use a vacation day, as in the past. Department chiefs would have to clear the worker for a day at the polls.

According to Church, employee unions have OK'd the proposal.

Officials claimed that new election laws have complicated the voting process, including the recent multiple-language ballots requirement, and put increasing demands on workers for voter assistance.

"This growing demand on poll workers to know more and do more has created a greater need for our polling places to be full staffed," Slocum said.

You can reach staff writer Jean Whitney at 306-2425 or by e-mail at jwhitney@angnewspapers.com