For many years, there have been 2 voting locations in our town- Mary L. Tracy School and High Plains Community Center. Recently I became aware that voting in this year’s election will be limited to only a single location-High Plains Community Center. Apparently, because there was a rainy day last election and some cars got stuck in the mud, the number of locations to vote has been reduced to one. Although High Plains is a central location in our town, given the criticality of voting and elections in our country, I believe that more locations make it easier for everyone to vote.
An over- crowded, single location will result in lines that could discourage voters. Since Election Day is not a national holiday, many people who work, cannot take off a few hours to wait in line to vote. Furthermore, people may arrive at their former voting location, resulting in much confusion. I hope I’m wrong, but I suspect that many people will chose to leave and not exercise their right to vote.
If the intent is to reduce some expense, that is a poor excuse for compromising our democracy by potentially suppressing voters’ participation. I sincerely hope that those who thought this was a good idea, will quickly reconsider!
Sincerely,
Beverly Propen
