(a) Upon certification by the Executive’s Director of Finance and Budget, that funds are available and appropriated, for any general, primary, or special election in all or part of the County, employees of any appointing authority may volunteer to be assigned to work as precinct election officials under the supervision of the Summit County Board of Elections. Additionally, for any general, primary, or special election in all or part of the County, appointing authorities may, in their sole discretion, assign employees to work as precinct election officials under the supervision of the Summit County Board of Elections. To be eligible to serve as a precinct election official, the employee shall meet the qualifications to serve as a precinct election official as defined in Section 3501.22 of the Ohio Revised Code and the Summit County Board of Elections must authorize and/or permit such service as a precinct election official. Each appointing authority shall permit employees to volunteer and/or assign employees, as the case may be, based on the seniority of similarly situated employees and operating needs of the agency. Employees who volunteer and/or are assigned by their appointing authority, as the case may be, under this section, shall be deployed by the Summit County Board of Elections as replacement precinct election officials and shall only be used to fill in for precinct election officials in the event a shortage of precinct election officials exists for any general, primary, or special election in all or part of the County.
(b) Under Section 3501.28(F) of the Ohio Revised Code, any employee may volunteer or be assigned to work as a precinct election official on the day of an election, and, in addition to other compensation set forth in this Section, shall receive their ordinary rate of pay for the ordinary number of hours scheduled to work on that day. All such compensation shall be paid from the County General Fund or reimbursed by the General Fund when paid from a non-general fund. Additionally, employees volunteering for or assigned to work as precinct elections officials, regardless of whether they are exempt or non-exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act, shall qualify for overtime as defined in Section 169.06(c) of these Codified Ordinances, in the form of 1.5 hours of compensatory time for all hours worked on the day of the election in excess of their ordinarily scheduled hours.
(c) Employees assigned to work as precinct elections officials shall additionally be permitted to receive compensation under Subsections 3501.28(B) to (D) of the Ohio Revised Code for the time worked on the day of the election and any pre-election training required by the Summit County Board of Elections.
(d) During such time that employees are assigned to work as precinct election officials, such employees shall work under the supervision of the Summit County Board of Elections and shall be subject to the policies and procedures established by the Summit County Board of Elections for the conduct of precinct elected officials, including disciplinary action for failure to properly carry out the duties of a precinct election official. While subject to such policies and procedures, any discipline for violation of the same shall be at the discretion of the employee’s ordinary Appointing Authority. Furthermore, such employees are subject to Subsection 3501.28(G) of the Ohio Revised Code for failure to obey the instructions of the Summit County Board of Elections or failure to comply with Ohio law regarding the duties of a precinct election official.
(e) All employee job classification specifications shall include the duties of precinct election officials when assigned under this section.
(f) Nothing contained in this Section is intended to negate nor supersede the provisions of any collective bargaining agreement to which the County is a party.
(Ord. 2020-059. Adopted 3-16-20.)