News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
No one showed up to a public hearing for the closure of two Putnam County voting locations Thursday.
The Election Commission has recommended closing the Poplar Grove and Cornerstone precincts because of low voter turnouts.
Commissioner Perry Bartlett said he would like Poplar Grove to stay open for the time being.
“I hate to keep Poplar Grove open for less than a hundred votes, but I hate to have those people drive forty miles to vote,” Bartlett said. “It’s probably 20 miles up there to Monterey and 20 miles back.”
If closed, Poplar Grove would combine with the Burks Elementary precinct and Cornerstone with Upperman.
At least three people called the election commission office to oppose the closure of Poplar Grove. The Cornerstone closure did not receive any negative comments since the commission made their recommendation in May.
Commissioner Linda Daniel also seemed open to keeping Poplar Grove precinct until redistricting occurs after the 2020 census.
“If they [county commission] vote to change it back to where it was and they can drive to the community center, I would be OK with that,” Daniel said. “Our job is to take care of the voter before anything else.”
The Election Commission will decide whether to close or keep open the polling locations during their August meeting.
