A sign with the words "Vote Here Today" posted outside a polling place in Camden, S.C., during the 2024 presidential election. (File photo by Jessica Holdman/SC Daily Gazette)
COLUMBIA — A bill that would put a little extra cash in poll workers’ pockets passed the House unanimously Thursday. Election officials cheered any help they can get in recruiting poll workers.
The legislation exempts poll workers’ rather measly pay from state income taxes. Officially, it would match the federal tax code, which already exempts up to $2,300 annually of poll workers’ pay from federal income taxes.
South Carolina pays poll workers $60 for several hours of mandatory, pre-election training and $75 on Election Day, for a total of $135 for what can be a 16-hour day. While precincts are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., poll workers must be there by 6 a.m. and stay as long as it takes for people still in line at 7 p.m. to vote, then process ballots.
Some counties supplement that rate.
Regardless, the piddling amount is one of the biggest barriers to finding the poll workers needed to run an election, said Isaac Cramer, director of the Charleston County elections board and president of the South Carolina Association of Registration and Election Officials.
“We are trying to recruit the next generation of poll workers, and you tell them, ‘Well, you have to work a 16-hour day, and you’re only getting $135 — that doesn’t really move the needle a lot,” he said.
The proposal is expected to reduce state revenue by roughly $190,000 annually, depending on the year and how many workers counties hire, according to the state Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office.
That total “shows how little they actually end up paying into state taxes,” Rep. Brandon Newton, the bill’s main sponsor, said at a committee meeting earlier this week.
“I think the paperwork and the hassle of taking out the state taxes from these very small paychecks is just not worth the money that we’re receiving,” said the Lancaster Republican.
The bill would also mean less paperwork and a little more cash for retired teachers, police officers, and other former public employees who work the polls. They’d no longer have to pay a percentage of what they make as a poll worker into their state retirement account, saving them both money and an extra form.
Cramer said many poll workers are retirees, and he’s seen firsthand their annoyance when they get even less than $135 for a long shift.
The contribution rate for the South Carolina Retirement System is 9%, and for police officers’ retirement system, it’s 9.75%, so that contribution would be a $12-$13 difference for a poll worker.
About 17,000 poll workers are needed during presidential election years, compared to 12,000 for election years of statewide officers, like 2026, and 10,000 for odd-numbered years, according to the bill’s fiscal impact report.
In 2024, two of South Carolina’s most populous counties were still trying to recruit hundreds of poll workers just days before the general election.
Since 2020, South Carolina has seen fewer poll workers come back to work an election. They get paid so little, they’re largely volunteers. And many have decided they don’t want to put up with the increased harassment from the public, Cramer said.
What’s really needed to help retain and recruit poll workers in a tougher climate is a pay increase, he said. His association hopes to see the state raise pay to $200 for poll workers.
“It is a thankless job,” he said. “To increase their pay would be a major thank you.”
Reporter Jessica Holdman contributed to this report.
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Courtesy of South Carolina Daily Gazette
