We try and do one every year to show how much we appreciate all our poll workers, because we can’t do these elections without them.”

Jacqueline Schulz, registrar of voters

PORTSMOUTH — Although being a poll worker is often a thankless job, the town’s Board of Canvassers and Canvassing Authority expressed its sincere appreciation to all of them last week.

The appreciation lunch was held Friday afternoon at Sunset Cove in Island Park. Poll workers enjoyed food from the restaurant’s catering menu while congregating under a large tent on the back lawn overlooking Blue Bill Cove.

“We try and do one every year to show how much we appreciate all our poll workers, because we can’t do these elections without them,” said Registrar of Voters Jacqueline Schulz.

Also on hand was Nick Edwards, the elections information coordinator from the R.I. Department of State.

“I think we know, now more than ever, that our poll workers are an integral part of democracy. Our office especially, and with Secretary (of State Gregg) Amore, we want to do everything we can to thank poll workers,” said Edwards, who praised the work of Schulz, Canvassing Clerk Barbara Sherman, and the rest of their team. “They really are top notch.”

Recruiting more poll workers is also one of his office’s goals.

“Tomorrow we’re actually doing an event with a national group called Vet the Vote, which is to honor our veterans and to recruit veterans to actually come out and work the polls,” Edwards said.

Schulz said she appoints more than 60 people to work the polls for every full election. 

“Our board of canvassers will go through the list, we vet them, and make sure they meet all the standards. Our moderators and our clerks cannot be the same party affiliation; we have to have bipartisan pairs to check people in,” she said.

The pay went up this year — $300 for the day for the moderators and clerks, $225 for the supervisors. Many poll workers are volunteers who don’t want to be paid, Schulz said.

All poll workers go through training, and are updated on any new laws that impact the election process. 

One such example, Schulz said, is the new disaffiliation law that allows an unaffiliated voter to cast a ballot in a primary and leave the polls as an unaffiliated voter. Before, an unaffiliated voter had to change his or her affiliation to either Democrat or Republican to vote in a respective primary, and then switch back to unaffiliated if they wished to keep that status.

Edwards nodded when asked if his office often gets inquires on election integrity issues. “We do get questions,” he said. “Our office has done election integrity forums around the state. It’s a transparent process and we want the public to know that, and our office is a resource to always answer questions.”

Edwards also appeared in March during a “Primaries and Pizza” event held at Portsmouth Town Hall. The voter information session was organized by Schulz in advance of the April 2 Presidential Preference Primary.