Board approves relocation of Phoenix-area polling place to Red House fire department building

The Charlotte County Board of Supervisors approved a request from the electoral board to move one polling location from White Oak Grove Baptist Church to the Red House community building adjacent to the Red House Fire Department at 9467 Red House Road.

Electoral board representative Baker told the board the current polling place is in the church fellowship hall basement and was established in 2016 when two precincts were combined. Baker said the electoral board favors moving polling places to fire stations or fire-adjacent public buildings to provide reliable power, improved exterior lighting for early-morning and after-hours voting, and better ADA access for voters and staff.

Baker said the Red House fire department had unanimously offered its facility as a polling location and that other previously relocated sites in Charlotte Courthouse and Phoenix had been well received by voters after moving to fire stations. A board member asked whether the new location increased travel time for voters in the precinct; the electoral-board representative said Google Maps showed about an eight-minute difference depending on origin and that he could not answer where the population center of the precinct was located.

A motion to relocate the polling place to the Red House community building carried by voice vote. The record shows the board considered the change in light of ADA compliance, exterior lighting, and the fire department's generator backup.