Bilingual poll workers needed for upcoming elections in Sarasota County

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - If you can read and speak English and Spanish fluently, you are invited to join the election day team in Sarasota County.

The Supervisor of Elections office is looking for bilingual poll workers to ensure that Spanish-speaking voters are able to exercise their rights to vote without any language barriers.

Supervisor of Elections in the state of Florida are now required to provide Spanish language election materials, including ballots, and translation assistance at the polls, beginning with the March 17, 2020 presidential preference primary election.

Bilingual poll workers are also needed for the August 18 primary and November 3 general election – and during early voting, prior to each election.

To be a poll worker, one must:

be a U.S. citizen and registered to vote (or pre-registered) in Sarasota County.
be able to read and speak the English language.
complete a minimum of three to four hours of training before each election.
have transportation to and from the training classes and polling places.
be willing to work a minimum of 14 hours on election day (beginning at 6 a.m. to help to set up the polling place for voting, and helping to close the polling location after the polls have closed and all voters have voted).

If you are bilingual and interested in learning more about working at the polls for the 2020 elections and beyond, please attend one of the following orientation sessions scheduled for September 2019 (no reservation necessary):