Franklin Co. Consolidates Voting Precincts
By MJ Kneiser, WLHR Radio, Lavonia
When the November election rolls around, Franklin County voters will cast their ballots at one of seven polling places instead of the previous 13.
The Franklin County Board of Elections recently voted to pare down the number of precincts to seven in an effort to save the County money.
In years past, the proposal to cut the number of precincts down was always met with stiff opposition from the voting public with citizens packing out any called public hearings, but not this time.
Franklin County Elections Supervisor Gina Chappalear said few people showed up on Thursday, August 20th for a public hearing on the Board of Elections plans to consolidate the county’s precincts – in fact, only two.
“We only had the one gentleman who had written a complaint that came in,” she said. “Then we had one other gentleman that gave a comment in favor of the consolidation.”
Chappalear said citizens appear to understand the cost-saving benefits of consolidation.
She added that the Franklin County Election Board is expecting significant cost savings in the 2016 Presidential Elections.
“My Board just felt like that with the times we’re in and the financial condition of the County, anything we could do to help would be for the good,” Chappalear said. “This next year will be a trial and error kind of thing. When the Board was working on the figures, they estimated the County would save $22,000 next year. Next year, we will have four elections.”
Chappalear said she has already sent in the required paperwork for the consolidation to the Secretary of State’s office and it has been approved.
That means in November, voters in Franklin County’s municipalities will cast their ballots in the same places they always have, but there will be some changes for voters in other parts of Franklin County.
“Gumlog and Wellborn were combined into one. It will be called Northeast Franklin and they will vote at Gumlog BBQ,” Chappalear said. “Flintsville, Strange and the northern part of Ashland on one side of I-85 were combined. It will be called West Franklin. They will vote at Double Churches Fire Department. Then the last group that was combined will be called, Southwest Franklin. It combines Dooley, Middle River, Gunnels and the other half of Ashland. They will continue to vote at the Sandy Cross Fire Department.”
Chappalear said new precinct cards will be going out soon detailing which poling place voters will be assigned to.
Anyone with questions about the consolidation can call Chappalear at the Franklin County Elections office in Carnesville at 706-384-4390.