MADISON COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — Madison County District 3 Commissioner Craig Hill told News 19 that just finding enough people to staff local polling places can be a challenge on Election Day, something a pay hike can help with.

“We wanted to incentivize that a little bit, and we had an opportunity to add to that salary,” Hill said.

That’s why Hill voted with the rest of the commission last week to raise pay for poll workers in the county to $200, and pay for inspectors up to $250 in future elections. This upcoming midterm election will likely be the last that poll workers only make $150 and inspectors make $200. This pay bump will be an increase of $50 in each position.

The bump in compensation comes as Alabama, along with other states, struggles to keep election workers, especially after threats stemming from false stolen election claims in 2020.

However, Hill said Madison County is in a good spot this year.

“There has been some negativity toward the election process but in Madison County, ours has been clean. We take great pride in that, and we know the probate judge does a great job and we wanted to compensate our election workers a little bit,” Hill said. “(The workers) have a tremendously long day, and (this is) just a little bit of help. Everything else is going up so we wanted to show our appreciation for what they do and help their salary a little bit.”

You can sign up to work at a polling place by filling out a printed form.