Schools may cease to be polling sites

DOBSON — Concerns about security and traffic during a possible “very contentious” general election in November have prompted Surry County school officials to request that polling stations be relocated from two campuses.

These include Westfield Elementary School, where citizens in the South Westfield precinct have been casting ballots, and Mountain Park Elementary, the voting station for the Bryan precinct.

Dr. Travis Reeves, the county schools’ superintendent, and three members of the Surry Board of Education appeared before the local Board of Elections last Monday afternoon to voice their concerns about the two campuses continuing to be used as polling sites.

This has prompted the elections board to begin search efforts for new voting locations on Election Day, which could include churches, fire stations or other alternate venues.

“We would like to accommodate this,” Surry Board of Elections Chairman Dwayne Carter said in the wake of Monday’s meeting with school officials at the board’s office in Dobson, a follow-up to Reeves sending a letter concerning the issue.

In the months before the Nov. 5 election — to include a presidential race and choices for other federal, state and local offices — Carter says his board will coordinate efforts with school officials and groups in the two communities to find new sites.

“We’re working together on this,” he said.

“If all the parties can help find a location away from the schools, that will be a good move,” the election board chairman added.

“And we do have time between now and the general election in November.”

”Times have changed”

The sometimes-uneasy alliance with the democratic process unfolding at campuses came to a head on May 14, when a second primary was held involving two statewide runoff elections among Republican candidates for lieutenant governor and state auditor.

“That is what triggered it,” Carter said of school officials’ request that led to the search process now under way.

The May runoff coincided with a key end-of-year testing period for the two schools, where the presence of the balloting machines and citizens coming and going was considered a disruption for students at a crucial time.

As explained by Carter, the Surry Board of Elections was locked in to the Westfield and Mountain Park sites, due to time limitations that would have prevented finding new locations based on the concerns first being raised in April.

This included a 45-day window to publicly advertise polling sites and the time needed to mail notices to affected citizens, once the second primary was announced.

It was basically an unexpected development that couldn’t have been predicted weeks ahead of time.

The elections board chairman recalled a period when a dozen or so schools were used as voting sites, which was echoed by Dale Badgett, county school board chairman, at Monday’s meeting.

“Times have changed,” Badgett said, citing present-day concerns about security which have become issues for campuses around the nation.

He believes the election process does present an opportunity for individuals wanting to do harm at an educational institution.

“Someone can walk in at any time and blend in,” Badgett said.

Carter said afterward that it isn’t as if the campuses have gone unwatched during elections, with off-duty law enforcement officers on hand to provide security.

“There is a layer of protection,” he said of what has been in place.

Much study needed

Finding alternate polling locations that are suitable won’t be as easy as going out and plucking them off a tree, according to Carter.

Inspections must occur at prospective sites to ensure compliance with the American with Disabilities Act in terms of handicapped access, sufficient parking and other requirements.

The Surry Board of Elections chairman pointed out that a general statute does give such boards the right to use any taxpayer-funded facility for voting purposes — which includes schools.

“But we’re not wanting to play that card.”