Johnston's Board of Canvassers is recruiting residents to staff the September 9 primary and November 3 general elections, in positions the town says pay up to $250 for Election Day work.
The recruitment notice, posted Wednesday on the town's website, lists four roles: moderator, clerk, supervisor and greeter. It does not say how many workers Johnston needs, name a pay rate for each position, or set an application deadline.
Poll workers are the people who actually run a polling place — checking in voters, handing out ballots, operating the tabulators and closing out the results at the end of the night. Every polling place in Rhode Island needs a full crew, and the crews are hired and paid locally by each municipality's board of canvassers, the board that maintains voter rolls and administers elections in a city or town.
Local sponsorAffordable photography lessons in Newport, Jamestown, or your town.E.L. Photo RIWho can do it
Eligibility is set by state law, not by the town. To serve as a poll worker in Rhode Island, a person must be at least 16 years old, be a registered Rhode Island voter, and be able to read the state Constitution in English and write their own name, according to the Board of Elections' poll worker guidance. High school juniors and seniors carrying at least a 2.5 grade point average may serve, and students can earn community service hours for the work.
Some people are ruled out. Candidates for office cannot work the polls, and state law bars people with certain criminal convictions. Municipal employees, with the exception of teachers, cannot work a primary in their own city or town. Poll workers must also attend a training class run by the state, and appointment can be made contingent on passing a test based on that training.
Note the distinction between resident and voter: being a Johnston resident is not enough. Applicants have to be registered to vote.
What the pay actually is
The "up to $250" figure is a ceiling, not a flat rate, and pay in Rhode Island varies by position and by municipality. State law sets a floor of no less than $60 a day. Neighboring Cranston publishes its scale: $200 for supervisors and greeters, $250 for clerks and moderators. Portsmouth pays $300 for moderators and clerks. Woonsocket's range runs from $175 to $220.
That puts Johnston's maximum in the upper range for Rhode Island communities, though not at the top. The town has not published how its own figure breaks down by role, or how long a shift runs.
Why towns keep asking
Filling these jobs has been a recurring problem across the state. The Rhode Island Board of Elections reported in 2020 that more than half of the state's poll workers were over the age of 65, and Johnston was among the communities listed as short-staffed that year. More recently, ahead of the September 2024 primary, Johnston canvasser Cinzia Travisono said the town was short roughly 10 to 12 poll workers, the Cranston Herald reported at the time.
Whether Johnston faces a gap this year is not stated in the town's notice, and no current figure has been made public. The August posting is consistent with routine pre-election recruitment.
The stakes for staffing are ordinary but real: if a town cannot seat a full crew at every polling place, lines get longer and the remaining workers absorb the load. Rhode Island voters will decide more than 279 offices this cycle, from U.S. Senate down to local seats.
Residents interested in the work can apply through the state's poll worker portal at elections.ri.gov/pollworkers or contact the Johnston Board of Canvassers at 1385 Hartford Ave. The office can be reached at (401) 553-8856. The primary is one month out, on Wednesday, September 9.