The Christian County Board of Elections voted to close three voting centers and establish a new center for early voting at a meeting Tuesday.
The voting centers that will close are at Concord Baptist Church, Friendship House and Cedar Grove Baptist Church, with County Clerk Melinda Humphries saying those three consistently had the lowest voter turnout of the 16 voting centers the past two elections.
Several people spoke against the closing of those centers, particularly the one located at Cedar Grove Baptist Church, with Nikki Chambers urging the board to keep all the current centers to make it simple for people to vote.
Tishauna Douglas asked that the Cedar Grove location—along with others that have only been added in the last two years—be given more time to build higher voter turnout numbers, especially with a presidential election.
Anyone in the county can vote at any voting center, no matter where their place of residence—Humphries says the Walnut Street Center is under a mile away from Cedar Grove, while the Indian Hills voting center is also under a mile away from Friendship House. Those who utilize Concord Baptist Church will have a little further to go, to the voting center located at New Barren Springs Church, about five miles down the road.
Humphries says they’ll be able to reallocate voting machines and election officers to higher traffic centers to help cut down on wait times.
Ultimately, the board voted to close the three centers and establish a new early voting location at the Walnut Street Center, pending approval from the Boys and Girls Club. There were two ‘yes’ votes and Marvin Denison was the lone ‘no’ vote, saying he doesn’t support limiting voting access, though he does support the early voting capabilities at the Walnut Street Center.