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Rockingham County elections board approves new Election Day and early-voting locations after public pushback
Summary
After an hour of public comment and board discussion about safety, notification and parking, the Rockingham County Board of Elections voted to move several Election Day precincts to publicly owned sites — mainly schools and the Penrose Mall for early voting — and to mail notices to affected voters.
The Rockingham County Board of Elections on Dec. 16 approved changes to multiple Election Day and early-voting locations intended to move polling from private venues to publicly owned facilities such as schools and municipal buildings.
Chair of the board said staff had sought publicly owned locations to improve control, accessibility and parking, and to reduce the risk of electioneering at privately owned sites. “They will be notified by mail the same way as they were notified on the changes that we made earlier this year,” the chair said when describing the planned voter notifications.
During the public comment period, Joyce Anderson of 3008 Edwin Place pressed the board to make mail notification mandatory: “I ask that you by mail inform each voter of the changes in their voting precinct,” she said, citing the potential for confusion. Malcolm Allen told the board he opposed moving sites from churches to schools, saying it would “expose our children to this hostile environment.” Osborne Baptist pastor Steve Griffith said churches had been trusted polling sites and urged the board to retain them where appropriate.
Staff said about 9,000 mailings tied to earlier boundary changes have already been sent and estimated that, if all proposed moves were approved, roughly 24,000 additional voter notifications could be required. Board members debated whether the timetable — with early voting starting Feb. 12 — provided adequate time for voters and campaigns to adjust. Several said they would not expect the location changes to alter precinct boundaries or favor particular candidates.
After discussion, Dr. Jones moved an inclusive motion that would set the Election Day locations for the 2026 primary as follows: Draper precinct to Mill Avenue Recreation Center; Eden precinct to Douglas Elementary School; Eden Central to Morehead High School; Reedsville 2 to Reedsville Middle School; and Reedsville 1 to Moss Street Elementary School. The board also approved changing two early-voting sites (Eden to City of Eden City Hall; Reedsville to Penrose Mall) while retaining Stonewall at Sharon Community Outreach Center. The motion was seconded and approved by voice vote.
The board also approved a separate motion to move its regular monthly meeting time 30 minutes earlier. The board adjourned after a director’s update that reiterated the candidate filing and election schedule for early 2026.
Next steps: staff will mail notices to affected voters and produce the legal agreements with school and municipal administrators necessary to use those facilities on Election Day.
