Two Voting Spots Shuttered

Fayette County Commissioners approved a proposal from the County Elections Office to close the voting precincts in West Point and Willow Springs.

West Point voters will now vote in Plum. Willow Springs voters will cast ballots in Fayetteville. The move is a first step in a possible move to consolidate the County’s 26 election precincts to 12.

Elections Administrator Terri Hefner said the voting locations in West Point and Willow Springs do not have adequate facilities to conduct elections. The voting location in West Point has poor handicap access and does not offer enough room for social distancing. The location in Willow Springs does not have a modern restroom. Election workers and voters have to use an old outhouse, instead.

Hefner proposed combining the Willow Springs precinct with the Fayetteville and the West Point precinct with Plum. Commissioners unanimously approved the request.

During the discussion, Hefner said data from the recent census will likely require the County to redraw the lines of the voting precincts next year. Election laws require roughly equal populations in each voting precinct. If the County has to re draw the lines next year, Hefner said, Commissioners could also consider consolidating precincts at that time.

Many counties have consolidated election precincts over the years. Fayette County’s numerous election precincts come from the time before automobiles. The County set up voting precincts in most communities in those days to make it easier for voters to reach the polls.

Hefner said her office faces a major challenge in finding election workers to staff each of the 26 precincts during the general election every other year. Each voting location requires at least four workers, she said.

Moreover, Hefner said she would like to offer Fayette County voters the ability to vote at any location, not just the precinct where they live. She said it would give voters from Flatonia, for example, the ability to vote in La Grange if that is where they work. That service requires special equipment, however. Moreover, she said the County would have to offer the same service at every voting location.

Hefner said the cost would be too great to implement that service at all 26 precincts. However, she said the Commissioners may wish to consider it if they combine the precincts to 12 next year. During the public comment period at Thursday’s meeting, Fayette County Republican Party Chairwoman Deborah Frank spoke in favor of closing the West Point and Willow Springs precincts. Frank said she also supported further consolidation of the precincts.