Putnam Election Office In Need Of More Space

Putnam County officials exploring funding options to expand the County Elections Office.

Mayor Randy Porter said the existing office was built in 2008. He said that with more people registered to vote in the county than ever, the facility is running short on space. The Putnam County Health Department recently opened its new addition and Porter said the neighboring election office could be next to expand.

“We’ve devoted a lot into this building,” Porter said. “It’s on its own backup generators and huge parking lots for the health department and elections that they can share. For right now, we think an addition onto it buys us another 10-15 years.”

Porter said he believes a project could start to pick up steam in the near future. He said the county has begun applying for grant money to finance the project.

“Having the meeting room to be able to train the election workers, it’s just part of the county growing,” Porter said. “So we’re looking at, sometime in the near future, trying to do something.”

He said after another 10-15 years in an expanded facility, the county may have no choice but to move the office to another location and assign it its own, larger building is growth continues at its current rate.