CANYON COUNTY — Five poll workers at the O’ Connor Field House polling location in Canyon County have tested positive for COVID-19.
Canyon County does not have a mask mandate, meaning masks are not required of poll workers or voters inside the polling locations. The five poll workers who contracted COVID-19 have been sent home and are no longer working at the polls.
“We have, throughout this whole deal, have informed all poll workers that if they’re feeling sick in the slightest to not come in,” Canyon County Public Information Officer Joe Decker said.
Decker also added that the list of back-up poll workers is long enough to fill these spots.
“At this point, we’re still planning on and hope to open all 21 next Tuesday. We’ll see how tomorrow goes and through the weekend, but at this point. We have every intention to open all 21 polling locations,” Decker said.
Decker says the county would rather operate short-staffed than have workers who aren’t feeling well.
“We’ve been doing extra sanitizing, extra cleaning. We have hand sanitizer and masks available. I know the machines are cleaned and wiped down before and between every voter,” Decker said.
Canyon County encourages voters to follow social distancing and wear a mask when going to cast their votes.
Poll workers handling curbside voting, offered by all Canyon County polling locations, will be expected to wear a mask when they bring the ballot or sanitized equipment out to your car.
