The Senate State Government Committee invited county election officials to the capitol Tuesday to get an overview of issues that may need attention.
Election officials agreed that one of their biggest challenges is attracting people to work at polling places, many of whom need to be elected to the job.
“There are not enough people to staff the polls,” Shari Brewer, election director for Butler County, told lawmakers. “This is not an exaggeration from the directors in some sort of recruiting effort.”
Brewer said the hurdles to finding poll workers stems from an election code that was written in the 1800’s, and hasn’t been revised since 1937.
Possible solutions include consolidating precincts or switching to all-mailed balloting.
Ed Allison, director of elections for Lawrence County, and Forrest Lehman, director of elections for Lycoming County, also spoke Tuesday.
