March 2, 2022
By: Dwayne Page
The number of voting precincts in the county has been reduced from 15 to 12.
Beginning with the May 3 primaries, the Belk, Dowelltown, and Edgar Evins State Park precincts will be closed and those who have voted there will cast ballots at different locations.
Those who were voting at the Dowelltown Community Center have been assigned to vote at the Liberty Community Center precinct; those who were voting at Edgar Evins State Park have been assigned to the Temperance Hall precinct; and those who were voting at Belk have been assigned to the Keltonburg precinct. The action was taken last fall by the DeKalb County Election Commission.
After reviewing the precincts, election officials said there were two factors in combining three voting locations: costs and the labor pool.
“Polling places are not provided free of charge,” Election Commission Chairman Walteen Parker and Administrator Dennis Stanley said in a joint statement. “The workers are paid, there is a cost to programming voting machines, and there is a cost to the materials provided at each precinct.”
“It has also become increasingly more difficult to find the number of workers needed to man 15 voting locations. These moves provide more flexibility in administering the entire process,” the two added.