Palm Beach County Suffers Shortage After Poll Workers Cancel on Primary Day

Some cities in South Florida are closing polling locations this primary day as a number of workers have refused to appear for duty amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The city of Boynton Beach stated Tuesday afternoon that there is a shortage of workers.

NOTICE: Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office has a shortage of poll workers for Precinct #7186, assigned to #BoyntonBeach Senior Center. Voters that were assigned to the Senior Center are being temporarily moved to Forest Park Elementary (1201 SW 3rd Street). pic.twitter.com/b1FSvFdyQf

— City of Boynton (@cityofboynton) March 17, 2020

Palm Beach County appears to be the epicenter of the problem, and local officials are “working on the situation.”

.@FLSecofState said today "polls are open statewide & Florida voters are currently casting ballots"

But in Palm Beach Co., home to ~1 million voters, several polling sites couldn't open due to poll workers not showing up. But @pbcelections says they're "working" on the situation pic.twitter.com/mjtw8qN9kC

— Kendall Karson (@kendallkarson) March 17, 2020

“We understand that some of our locations have no workers present. We are currently working on the situation, and are reassigning people to those locations right now,” the county supervisor of elections said in a statement.

The supervisor encouraged voters to “pick up a vote by mail ballot” as a method for voting today.

“We apologize for the inconvenience to any voters and are working to get workers to the locations, and will combine some of them if necessary,” the statement read.

“We are working closely with Supervisor [Wendy] Link to ensure that voters in those locations have the opportunity to cast their ballots today,” Secretary of State Laurel Lee said, according to Florida Politics.

There are five precincts affected, according to the news site.

The city of Boynton Beach stated some voters who were assigned to vote at the Boynton Beach Senior Center are now having to cast ballots at Forest Park Elementary.

The Palm Beach County supervisor of elections said 800 volunteers had backed out of serving as of Monday, and only 100 new volunteers offered to step in, Florida Politics reported.

According to the Palm Beach Post, about 3,200 workers were due to be working at polling locations throughout the county.

In Illinois, about 50 Chicago-area precinct locations were changed at the last minute after venues canceled.

Kyle Olson is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @KyleOlson4.