UI law students step up, step in as poll workers

University of Idaho students will work the polls on Election Day to help solve a poll-worker shortage and to fulfill their civic duties.

Thirty-seven University of Idaho College of Law students in Moscow will serve as poll workers — most of them at the UI Student Recreation Center polling location, said Kristi Denney, assistant clinical professor and pro bono director at the UI College of Law. Denney said she and UI College of Law Dean Jerry Long will also work the polls.

“If I want the students to think it’s important and to participate, then I should be willing to do it myself I suppose,” Long said.

Each UI law student must commit 50 hours of pro bono legal service during their College of Law career, and volunteering at the polls Nov. 3 will count toward the pro bono requirement, Denney said.

Latah County Clerk/Auditor/Recorder Henrianne Westberg said the county pays a poll worker $9-10 per hour, plus a stipend for lunch and gas mileage to travel to the polling location.

Denney said nearly all of the law students working the polls will refuse the payment in order to accumulate the pro bono hours.

“We wanted to engage them in the election process, especially with COVID this year, and so many of our poll workers traditionally being senior citizens we knew there might be a shortage at the polls,” Denney said.

Moscow businesses Northwest River Supplies and Palouse Imaging Consultants have offered their employees paid time off to work at the polls.

NRS Chief Financial Officer Tony Mangini and PIC owner Christin Reisenauer said last week they had not heard back from employees about whether they planned to take their companies up on their offers.

“With the COVID-19 situation, (NRS founder Bill Parks) was really concerned about the people that have traditionally handled the polling positions maybe not being comfortable or able to for health reasons, and so that’s why he wanted to organize something,” Mangini said. “And so we decided as a company it made sense. It helps the community, helps our employees and so we decided to do it.”

Reisenauer said she only has four employees but that everyone who steps up helps.

“Even if one of them takes that offer and does it, then it’s one more poll worker, one more senior citizen that doesn’t have to be there,” Reisenauer said.

“We’re in the medical field,” she added. “I’m very conscientious of the risk to our population and I want to do all that I can to protect my population. I mean that’s what my duty is as a physician and my commitment to this community to do.”

Westberg said she has enough poll workers for all 15 polling locations in Latah County and that without the new, younger poll workers stepping up, more precincts would need to be combined. Bovill voters will vote in Deary and Harvard voters will vote in Princeton next month but no other polling locations will be combined.

Westberg said she needs 140 to 150 poll workers in a presidential election year like this one. Despite the increase in people voting by mail this year, Westberg said she still needs the same number of poll workers.

Garrett Cabeza can be reached at (208) 883-4631, or by email to gcabeza@dnews.com.