The Muskingum County Board of Elections is in desperate need of poll workers as volunteers continue to call off leading up to Tuesday’s Primary Election.

“I’m getting phone calls every half hour of people calling off. We’ve had 24 call off this morning already,” said Board of Elections Director Tim Thompson. “If that stays the same, we’ll probably have another 20 call off this afternoon and then tomorrow morning we’ll have some more call off.”

According to Thompson, as many volunteers as possible are needed in order to stay in compliance with state law regarding the number of poll workers at each location.

“We are allowed to have less than that, but it’s not ideal this election,” said Thompson.

Volunteers must be registered voters and can call the office at (740) 455-7120, ext. 105 to sign up.

The board of elections is specifically calling on anyone whose jobs are put on hold, including restaurant workers, teachers, professors and college students.

All poll workers are compensated for their time.

Thompson estimates shifts will last between 5:30 a.m. until about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Workers will be supplied with hand sanitizer and latex gloves.

Voting surfaces at each location will be cleaned with sanitizing solution and disinfecting wipes will be supplied to cleanse voting materials.