St. Louis County election directors worry payroll problems will delay poll worker pay

ST. ANN, Mo. (First Alert 4) - Election directors in St. Louis County said problems with the county’s transition to a new payroll system could delay pay for poll workers who will staff the upcoming election.

The concern follows another technology issue in county government this week. The county said seniors enrolled in the senior property tax freeze were overcharged because of a software glitch, and the county said the error is being corrected.

Poll workers staff 200 polling places

In a few days, hundreds of thousands of voters will rely on poll workers to help the election run smoothly. Poll workers staff 200 polling places in St. Louis County.

Shirley Byrd is one of more than 2,500 poll workers in the county. She has helped voters cast ballots for more than a decade.

“It’s just a joy because we’re doing something for our community,” Byrd said.

“I just love doing it. I just love to process voters. Also, I’m a technician on election day. If the machines break down, I can work on them too,” she said.

Eric Fey and Rick Stream are the Democratic and Republican election directors for the county.

“It literally wouldn’t happen without election judges,” Fey said.

Directors raise concerns about pay

The directors said they are concerned the transition to a new payroll program will delay when poll workers get paid. Poll workers are scheduled to receive $250 payments on Nov. 20.

“We’re very concerned because poll workers over the years have said they want to get paid on time and we promise them that. And in the past it’s happened,” Stream said.

The directors said it is hard to recruit and keep poll workers, and they don’t want payment delays to drive any away.

Fey said that “if they find they’re not being compensated in a timely manner by the election board, they might be a little hesitant to help us in the future. That’s our concern.”

Stream said there have been so many problems with the payroll transition that he is less than cautiously optimistic pay will go out on time.

“They need to be working 24/7 making sure this payroll for the poll workers gets out on time,” Stream said.

County responds

At a County Council budget meeting, Tom Appelbaum, the county’s Acting Director of Information Technology, told council members that employees in his department and in the payroll department are working to avoid a delay.

“I will assure you that we will get them paid one way or another. If it’s not through the regular payroll system, we will do whatever we need to do to make sure that happens,” Appelbaum said.

The county executive’s office released a statement in response:

“The administration department has been working with limited resources and doing all they can to provide remedial support for the board of elections, which is contrary to the messages shared from Rick Stream, Eric Fey, and others,” the statement said.