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Reasons for the change in polling places

September 05, 2006

Here are the reasons Boyle County Clerk Denise B. Curtsinger and the Board of Elections decided to consolidate polling places:

* Delivery and pickup of Election Day supplies and machines. When federal mandates required polling places be handicapped accessible, the clerk's office put 500 miles on five vehicles picking up and delivering extra equipment.

* New disabled-accessible voting machines required extra technical assistance. Technicians had to go to almost every precinct during the May primary to assist precinct officers. Centrally-located polling places mean voters will have to wait less on technicians to arrive.

* Write-in votes are allowed during the General Election, and this generally causes a lot of confusion. Centrally-located polling places will allow the county clerk's staff to be on hand to assist precinct officers and voters.

* When voters move and do not change their voter registration, which Curtsinger says often happens, they show up at the wrong precinct, only to find they have to drive across town. With multiple precincts in one location, voters will have a better chance of getting to the correct precinct before polls close or they have to leave town to get to work.

* The amount of supplies needed for a precinct location has doubled since 2003. Curtsinger said it is too much stuff to ask precinct officers to haul from place to place.

* Each of the new locations are disabled-compliant without having to bring in any extra equipment.

* At consolidated polling places, it will be easier to monitor candidates for non-compliance issues, such as election signs too close to a polling location.

* The cost of supplies will be reduced.

* Because the November election will bring a heightened amount of voter awareness, the time to change polling places is now.

* Ten precinct voting locations are within two miles of the old locations, and the remaining seven are within a three-mile radius.

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