Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Elections topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Sullivan County elections staff raise alarm over Government Center security plan ahead of early voting
Summary
Board of Elections representatives told the Government Services Committee they were not consulted about a new security plan that places a scanner in the Government Center lobby and is putting the site's use for early voting at risk. They requested an immediate meeting with county leaders to resolve logistics before early voting.
Board of Elections representatives told the Sullivan County Government Services Committee that a new security plan for the Government Center could interfere with the facility's use as an early voting and election-day poll site and that the elections office was not consulted before staff were notified.
The elections staff said the Government Center has been designated an early voting site since 2020 and that the county posted early voting flyers and uploaded poll-site information to the State Board of Elections. "Sullivan County voters deserve better than to be treated as an afterthought of the county security plan," the statement said. The representatives said they have not received answers to logistical questions and that the DPW permit to use the lobby for the general election is on hold.
The elections representatives asked for a meeting with the county manager, members of the legislature, the Department of Public Works, the commissioner of public safety and the county attorney "to discuss a swift and mutually beneficial solution to this issue." They noted timing urgency: "We are 88 days away from election day and 78 days away from the start of early voting," the statement said.
At the meeting, a committee member acknowledged the request and said they would discuss it with the county manager. Committee members offered to participate in a meeting and emphasized that "voting is important" and that people must "feel like their right to vote is protected."
The elections representatives recounted steps they had taken to notify other agencies and the public: uploading early voting and election-day poll sites to the State Board of Elections and posting early voting flyers on the county web page. They said they provided the commissioner of public safety with key dates and deadlines in March but were not told about the security plan until an all-staff email on July 28.
By requesting the meeting, the elections office is seeking confirmation that the Government Center will be permitted as planned for November and answers to specific operational questions about scanner placement, access and how voter flow would be managed under the new security arrangement.
Committee leaders said they would follow up with the county manager to arrange talks. No formal decision or change to the security plan was recorded at the meeting.
