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Committee approves bill letting county election boards close underused polling places after local review
Summary
The Senate City, County & Local Affairs Committee passed House Bill 1306 on a voice vote after debate over voter access, requiring local election boards and county courts to approve consolidating underused polling places into vote centers; sponsors said decisions will be local and public, while opponents warned of rural access and partisan risk.
Representative Rye presented House Bill 1306, a local-government amendment that would allow county election boards and county courts to consolidate or close underused polling places and to establish vote centers (ensuring at least one voting site per town). Rye said the change is designed to avoid forcing counties to staff and maintain polling sites that aren't being used and that the bill's language came from the state board of election commissioners.
Senator Flowers objected that consolidating sites could harm rural and elderly voters who lack reliable transportation and that partisan control of…
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