Paris, Tenn.–The Henry County Election Commission will hold an open forum at 4:30 p.m. Monday (June 7) to familiarize the public with the proposal to establish ‘vote centers’ in the county. The meeting will be held in the County Emergency Management building on Brewer Street.
The proposal is to downsize the 13 precincts to six ‘vote centers’ at Harrelson, Lakewood, Henry School, Grove School, Henry County High School and TCAT. The Henry County Schools board of education already unanimously approved allowing the ‘vote centers’ to be located at the schools.
Under the proposal, voters can cast their ballots at any of the vote centers on Election Day—not just at their specific precincts.
The proposal was first presented at the Election Commission’s August 2020 meeting, at which time members authorized Elections Administrator DeLaina Green to pursue it.
The proposal was discussed at length at the May 2021 meeting but a vote on it was delayed following objection voiced by the County Democratic Party members.
Green has explained the state is moving toward the concept of ‘vote centers’ to replace precincts. She said in Henry County such a plan would be cost-effective; noting having 13 precincts is not feasible for several different reasons: not all are secure, not all are ADA accessible and not all have adequate parking. In addition, all the ‘vote centers’ would have to be ‘hard-wired’ with both internet and WiFi.
As proposed, the Henry County ‘vote centers’ would not be operational until 2024, Green said, but in order to achieve that, “We would have to start the process now.”