One hundred and twenty dollars.

That amount can cover a year’s subscription to a Netflix account with ads with some change left over.

And that stipend from the Orange County Registrar of Voters Office could be the figurative carrot on the stick to recruit 400 poll workers on Tuesday, Nov. 5, Election Day.

The Orange County Registrar of Voters will mail student workers a $120 check 4-6 weeks after the presidential election as a reward for their assistance. 

“Being flexible, having great customer service, great attitude and being available and ready to assist is what the job entails,” said Imelda Carrillo, the election service manager at the Orange County Registrar of Voters in Santa Ana.

By the Monday, Oct. 7, deadline, the agency had already reached its recruitment goal with another 100 who applied thereafter, said Enedina Chhim, the Orange County Registrar of Voters’ community outreach manager.

Senior Chara Yoon was among the Sunny Hills students who jumped at the opportunity before the deadline once she found out about the program from her American Government teacher and California Scholarship Federation [CSF] adviser, Hera Kwon. Kwon had posted a Google Doc about the poll worker program on Thursday, Sept. 19, in her Google Classroom for all four of her government classes.

Although Yoon said the fact she was getting paid for her time was a factor in her participation, she also values the upcoming opportunity.

“I thought it would be a good experience to get to know how the voting process works,” said the senior, who is in Kwon’s first-period government class. “Participating can educate students more about the voting system since schools don’t necessarily teach them, and interacting with many people can help them build social skills as well.”

Senior Samuel Park, a California Scholarship Federation club member who will also be working during Election Day, said he finds value in the program.

“I feel like it’s a really good opportunity since students are being exposed to this idea that they are going to have to make a choice when they become adults,” he said. “This is an important first step to make them understand how the process goes, what their rights are and what they can do and what they cannot do.”

Junior Orianna Stocco-Guia, who also got accepted to this program, said she is looking forward to seeing how she can help.

“I think it’s a great way to be a part of the community,” Stocco-Guia said. “It’s a great way to get real-world experience because I don’t vote, but I can see how it’s going to be like to vote.” 

Individuals interested in working as poll workers had to fill out an application on the Orange County Registrar of Voters website for their respective counties; however, according to the website, those who wish to serve in counties outside their residence must directly contact the county’s election office. 

The agency’s website provided the following information about the poll worker application process: 

• To qualify, teenagers had to be at least 16 on Election Day
• Applicants also must have a GPA of 2.5 or higher and have permission from their guardian and school to participate
• School administrators or counselors then had to fill out students’ GPAs and high school information.

Applicants will get the title of customer service representative and will be responsible for assisting voters with their ballots and monitoring the voting area.

Once the Orange County Registrar of Voters Office approves an application, students are required to take online and in-person training, Chhim said. 

Hosted on 10xUniversity, a learning platform, the online training is in video format and is composed of five training modules and knowledge checks covering expectations, duties and language services available to voters. After completion, students must score 80% or higher on the cumulative knowledge check to move on to in-person training, she said.

Approximately two hours long, the in-person training sessions will take place in Santa Ana and San Juan Capistrano throughout the rest of this month and will allow students to apply what they learned from the online curriculum through review and simulations, Chhim said.

According to the Registrar’s website, besides the $120 stipend, students will also be emailed a participation letter and a certificate of recognition for their time 3-4 week after the presidential election.

“It definitely is a valuable program,” Carrillo said. “Students are excited, they’re engaged, they get to see a hands-on experience, and then when they actually go vote, they have that idea of what they’re expecting.”