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County commissioner says eight-day early voting is too long, urges rebranding of ‘Election Day’
Summary
A county commissioner said last week’s eight-day early voting period produced low turnout and idle staff, argued the county bears the cost of staffing sites, and urged shortening the period and calling the final day the “last day to vote.”
A county commissioner said last week’s eight-day early voting period produced low turnout and that the staffing and site costs are borne by the county, and urged officials to shorten the early voting window and stop calling the final day “Election Day.”
The commissioner told those present that early-voting sites were often empty and that county employees assigned to those sites reported being idle: “I had staff members or people working these early voting sites reaching out to me saying, we’re bored. There’s nobody here,” the commissioner said. He added that some staff were “line dancing and playing [inside] the fire departments” because turnout was low.
The official said the length of the early voting period—“it was 8 days long,” he said—creates costs the county must cover and that discussions are underway across parties to revisit the policy. “Everybody says it’s too long,” the commissioner said, adding that there is “a push, what I think rightfully, to change some of the verbiage and stop referring today as election day, but to refer to it as the last day to vote because now we have multiple election days.”
Why it matters: The commissioner framed the change as both a cost and turnout issue. Shortening the early-voting window or changing how the final day is described could affect staffing needs, voter behavior and county election budgets. The speaker said the concern is bipartisan but did not record any formal motion, vote, or directive during these remarks.
The commissioner also acknowledged that the primary season includes contested races on both sides and thanked candidates for running, saying voters deserve choices at the polls. He encouraged residents to participate: “If you have not voted, it is a responsibility, a civic responsibility, so you should vote.”
No formal action was recorded in the transcript. The remarks describe a policy suggestion and public encouragement rather than a voted change; next steps, including whether staff will prepare a recommendation or a formal agenda item, were not specified.
