More than half of polling locations in Miami County changing for August special election

MIAMI COUNTY — Some Miami Valley polling places are changing for the August special election.

In Miami County, more than half of their polling places are changing.

The Troy Church of the Nazarene is one of the largest polling locations in Miami County. It’s just one of several changing for the special August election.

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Laura Bruns and Ian Ridgeway are the director and deputy director for the Miami County Board of Elections.

Nearly 40,000 Miami County voters will be moving to a new polling place for the August special election.

“The biggest change is in the outlying rural areas of our county,” Laura Bruns.

That’s part of a plan they’ve been discussing for two years.

“It puts us in a really bad spot when we suddenly don’t have a place for voters to go,” Bruns said.

They had several private building owners decide they no longer wanted to be a polling location.

“We’re moving from a lot of private buildings like churches into schools,” Bruns said.

Those changes are here to stay, but some polling places are changing just for August like the Troy Church of the Nazarene.

“They’re not available for the August election, so we’re moving all those voters to the Concord Room which is maybe a half mile down the road,” Ridgeway said.

In Montgomery County there are at least four polling locations unavailable for August.

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“So what we’re trying to do is either locate another facility right in that same area or we will have to consolidate and move a couple precincts to another location,” said Jeff Rezabeck, Montgomery County Board of Elections Director.

They’re also looking for additional poll workers.

“We do expect about a 30 percent turn out— so we’re going to need those poll workers and it’s going to be a little rough on us to make sure we have those poll workers at those locations as they’re required,” Rezabeck said.

In Miami County, Bruns says they’ve got enough poll workers for this election but they are always looking for new people.

If you have a question about where your polling place is or if you’re interested in becoming a poll worker, you can contact your local board of elections.

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