Temporary Suffolk election workers finally are being paid

The checks are finally in the mail for temporary personnel put on at the Suffolk County Board of Elections to help meet the crush of walk-in requests for absentee ballots before Election Day.

The four temps, who worked during the week before the election, initially could not be paid until the County Legislature formally created the job titles in which they worked. Those titles are absentee ballot coordinator, which paid $50 an hour, and assistant absentee ballot coordinator, which paid $25 an hour.

The total cost for the work was $9,600, according to GOP elections commissioner Nick LaLota. As in all Board of Elections staffing, the slots were evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans. Among those hired was recent board retirees: Betty Manzella, former GOP deputy commissioner and cousin of late Suffolk GOP chairman John Powell, and Democrat Jean Griffiths of Miller Place.

But even after the legislature approved the job titles in mid-December, the checks for the four did not go out until Jan. 2, according to board officials. In all, the county uses a total of 5,199 temporary workers in connection with Election Day, and officials acknowledged delays in sending out some other checks as well. Those late payments went out just before the new year.