DAVIESS CO., KY (WFIE) -
The Kentucky Primary Election is Tuesday, and all that equipment delivery and prep work has Daviess County leaders thinking there might be a better ways to run the polls.
The county clerk is looking into the idea of getting rid of precincts and opening voting centers instead.
It's a three day process, delivering machines to 84 voting precincts around Daviess County. It takes over a hundred miles in the delivery truck.
Each election costs the county $160,000, which is money spent paying poll workers and making deliveries.
"We have 25-40 people vote in and we have to take all that equipment out there," said Daviess County Clerk, David Osborne.
This work and cost has Osborne researching the idea of setting up voting centers instead of precincts.
"One voting center for every 10,000 people. We could go down to 10, maybe 12 voting centers in Daviess County," said Osborne.
Osborne says this would make voting more convenient.
"There's no where in Daviess County you can not get to in 15 minutes," said Osborne.
But some folks say eliminating precincts would decrease voter turnout in some cases.
"It gives the opportunity for people who don't have transportation to get to the polls," said poll worker George Worley.
Worley says many polling places are within walking distance, so those who can't drive may miss out.
"If the county was going to offer transportation for those who didn't have transportation to get to the polls, then maybe something can get worked out," said Worley.
Others say having just a few places to vote would make more sense, especially when saving the money.
"Make it a lot easier on people and even make sense to have it at different businesses. The way people get around to different businesses, it would help everybody," said resident Tony Izsak.
Osborne says he will further discuss the idea of voting places with local legislators and Vanderburgh County Clerk after the general election, to see how the centers are working for them so far.
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