Election Commission Discussing Bangham, Capshaw Needs

The Putnam County Election Commission will hold a public meeting on Wednesday to discuss changes to two voting precincts.

Election Administrator Michele Honeycutt said there is discussion about either moving the Bangham precinct out of the community center or combining District 11’s precincts and sending everyone to Cookeville High School. Honeycutt said November’s presidential election made it clear that the center does not have enough space to support local voters during large elections.

“They voted a lot of people, not a lot of parking, and I believe some of my commissioners noticed there was parking right along the side of the road and that’s a pretty bad road to be parking on,” Honeycutt said. “But there was nowhere else for people to park so we needed to do something with that one.”

Honeycutt said the commission is also considering a change to the precinct at Capshaw Elementary School to make the site more handicap accessible. Honeycutt said officials are working to get approval from the school’s principal to move voting from the gymnasium to the cafeteria so voters do not have to walk across most of the building during elections.

“If anyone has talked to the principal and they know we can do that then probably at that (February 19) meeting they’ll change it,” Honeycutt said. “It just depends on what they have found out, what the possibilities are there.”

Honeycutt said it important to make sure voting precincts are easily accessible because lots of local citizens are on walkers or in wheelchairs. Honeycutt said the change at Bangham is important because voters need to be kept safe.

“I just hope we get some people to show up at this meeting so we get input,” Honeycutt said.

Honeycutt said county commissioners planned to contact a nearby church to see if that facility would be willing to become the new Bangham voting precinct instead of the community center. Honeycutt said members of the Bangham community are invited to come and share their opinions on whether they prefer a new location or merging with Cookeville High School.

“They’re still in the eleventh district,” Honeycutt said. “We cannot change that. So Cookeville High School is also in the eleventh, that’s why there was a possibility of moving all of Bangham voters into Cookeville High School. There was plenty of parking there so we felt like it could accommodate them. But at the same time, if they would rather keep their own precinct then we need to move it somewhere.”