Screven County Elections looking to consolidate polling locations

The next election on Nov. 8 may look a bit different in Screven County. The local elections office is looking to consolidate its polling locations, bringing it down from 12 to seven.

There are currently three polling locations in District 3, two in Districts 2, 5, 6 and 7; and one each in Districts 1 and 4. Elections Coordinator Hannah Derriso said the idea would be to have one poll per district.

Voter turnout has historically been very low in Screven County. The turnout for this past summer's local primaries sat at around one-third on the high end, and even that was considered high in proportion to other local elections.

Part of the hope with this reduction in polls is to boost that turnout by decreasing confusion. Derriso recalled one instance where a husband and wife were assigned to two different polling locations, so one poll per district should clear things up.

Screven County Elections intends to pair their more simplistic layout with more social media coverage and improving relations with volunteers in order to boost the number of voters.

In addition to hopefully drawing a bigger turnout, the reduction in polls will cut costs. During a Screven County Commission meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 9, Screven County Elections Superintendent Debbie Brown said organizing an Election Day costs $18,000 nowadays, and each poll contributes to that.

The local election office is also looking at using fire stations and similar county-owned facilities as polling locations because, according to Derriso, they are neutral, government-owned buildings that would significantly cut the rent they have to pay for the use of other locations and it means they are in charge of making sure everything is clean and in working order.

The commissioners were generally accepting of the ideas. Allison Willis of District 6 recommended trying to make sure a poll is near the geographical center of the district in order to further increase clarity.

Further details of the plan are still being worked out, and while Screven County Elections has final say on this, Derriso said they will not sign off on it until it has the blessing of the county commissioners.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Screven County Elections looking to consolidate polling locations