County considers changing two voting precincts

The Franklin County Commission discussed changing two voting precincts in time for the November elections at its Monday work session.

One precinct to change would be the Waco precinct, which is currently located at Waco Church of Christ.

“They are no longer meeting in that building, so we are trying to get out ahead and change the precinct before they sell the building,” said Probate Judge Barry Moore.

If the county commission approves the change at its July 20 meeting, the voting precinct will move to Waco Baptist Church, in its fellowship hall, for future elections.

The next voting precinct which could see changes is located at Quinn’s Garage in Tharptown. The county commission is looking to combine with another precinct to form a voting center.

This voting center would be located at Tharptown Baptist Church, with one side of the voting center dedicated to each precinct.

Commissioner Chris Wallace said he has already been in contact with several people about forming a voting center at Tharptown Baptist Church, which is in his district.

“Overall the comments seem to be fairly positive,” Wallace said. “I don’t foresee any problems.”

In order to combine the current Tharptown Baptist Church precinct and the Quinn’s Garage precinct to form a voting center, there must be a public hearing held at the future location of the proposed voting center. The public hearing will be July 27 at 6 p.m. at Tharptown Baptist Church for anyone to give their opinion about forming a voting center.

Once the public hearing is held, the county commission is expecting to hold a special meeting July 31 to approve the voting center in time for the three-month deadline before the next election to change a voting precinct.

The county commission will hold its regular meeting Monday beginning at 8:30 a.m. after a public hearing involving vacating Sanders Road. The public hearing will begin at 8 a.m., with voting taking place in the regular meeting at 8:30 a.m.