Lanier may close 3 of 4 voting precincts

Published 9:00 am Tuesday, June 28, 2016

LAKELAND —  A public hearing was held in Lanier County Monday to get community input on a proposal to close three of the county’s four polling precincts.

The meeting was held in a county courtroom at 10 a.m., said Johnny Bowling, a private citizen who was at the meeting. He estimated 25-35 people were at the meeting.

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The proposal is to eliminate the polling places in Stockton, Mud Creek and Westside, leaving the only voting site for the entire county in Lakeland, said Brian Sirmans, a Lanier school teacher and local Republican Party activist who was at the meeting.

A final decision has not been made and will be up to Elections Supervisor Judy Mullis, said Sherrie Griffin with the county’s Board of Registrars, which is responsible for voter rolls, early voting and absentee voting.

Mullis said no changes would be made until after the November elections, and possibly not until January if runoffs are necessary, but at the moment she is inclined to “bite the bullet” and close the precincts.

“It’s the trend” among smaller counties, she said, citing the low numbers of voters in the three precincts in question.

Both Bowling and Sirmans oppose the idea of closing the three polling places.

“Everybody I know in Stockton is against it,” Bowling said. He cited the convenience of voting in one’s own district as something a consolidated voting system would harm.

“My 92-year-old mother has been voting (in Stockton) for 70 years,” he said. “I don’t know that she would want to go into Lakeland to vote.”

“Having precincts in the community make it convenient for those who don’t take advantage of early or absentee voting,” Sirmans said. “Our voter turnout is low enough as it is.”

The point of consolidation is not to take away anyone’s ability to vote, Griffin said. “Several voting options are available, including early voting and absentee voting,” she said. Mullis said with all the additional voting options, officials want “election day to be the last opportunity” to cast a ballot.

Consolidating into one voting place would streamline operations, Griffin said, with all the voting machines in one location.

The cost of maintaining several polling places can be expensive for a small county, said State Rep. Jason Shaw, R-District 176, which includes Lakeland.

“I think (Mullis) is doing the right thing by holding a public meeting,” Shaw said. “It allows a good dialogue on both sides.” Mullis said no more public meetings on the subject are planned.

Lanier County Sheriff Nick Norton has reservations about a unified voting district. “Personally, I don’t think it points the county in the right direction,” he said.

The sheriff’s office is required by law to keep a deputy at each polling place during election hours, he said, so fewer polling sites would mean fewer deputies would be needed. Norton said he was more concerned about losing the convenience of local voting places. “This county has almost doubled in population since I took office in 2005,” he said.

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.