Counties weigh use of voting centers

Large centralized polling places could trim election costs

By Gabrielle Crist, Rocky Mountain News
January 14, 2005

Denver and two other metro counties hope to abandon precinct polling places this year in favor of centralized voting centers.

Denver Elections Commissioner Sandy Adams said voting centers would solve a variety of problems and help contain election costs.  
"Elections are getting so, so expensive," Adams said. "It's just a matter of economics."

Susan Rogers, another Denver elections commissioner, said if the voting center system isn't implemented, the county probably would have to eliminate some precincts to cut costs.

The centers would be set up in large public buildings where voters from anywhere in a county could cast a ballot regardless of their address or precinct.

Denver elections commissioners said they would like to have 35 voting centers in place - eliminating 280 polling places - by the May municipal election. If they can't accomplish that, they'll shoot for November.

The commissioners believe they have final authority to decide whether to use voting centers, but the City Council has to approve their budget, so they can't move forward without council consent.

Councilwoman Marcia Johnson supports voting centers in theory, but worries about finding enough sites large enough to accommodate thousands of voters.

"Down on the ground, I'm not sure how it works in this district," Johnson said. If the elections commission can present a detailed proposal, however, she said the council probably would support the idea.

"It'll take a lot of work," Johnson said.

Election officials in Adams and Broomfield counties say they hope their voting centers can be in place by the November election.

Arapahoe, Douglas and Boulder counties are considering the option as well, but aren't likely to switch over this year, election officials said.

Larimer was the first county in the nation to implement voting centers, and after three elections with them in place, election officials say it's the best way to go.

"Quite frankly, I think it is the only way to do elections," Larimer County Clerk and Recorder Scott Doyle said.

Doyle said he has received calls from elections officials all over the country requesting information.

Voting centers eliminate the hassle for voters of having to figure out which precinct to go to, Doyle said. Under the current system, voters who go to the wrong precinct have to cast a provisional ballot and can vote only in the presidential election.

In last year's presidential election, thousands of voters had to cast a provisional ballot because they went to the wrong precinct.

Voting centers eliminate that problem because voters can cast a ballot anywhere in the county, Doyle said.

They also help contain election costs because fewer election judges are needed.

In addition, federal law will soon require voting booths that are accessible to the blind and handicapped. It's much less expensive to buy equipment for a few dozen voting centers than it is to purchase machines for hundreds of precincts, Doyle said.

Rogers said the voting centers could be inconvenient for some older or handicapped voters who have traditionally been able to vote close to home.

"Those are the people I'm really concerned are going to be unhappy," Rogers said.

But Doyle said that hasn't been a problem in his county. Those people who find it inconvenient to go to the polls can take advantage of early voting or use absentee ballots, he said.

The biggest drawback to voting centers is the money it takes to get them started, Doyle said.

"When you first put vote centers into place, you have to cough up a few bucks," Doyle said.

Denver officials will have to create a countywide computerized voter registration log accessible at each of the voting centers. They also will have to rent about 35 sites big enough to accommodate large numbers of voters.

There are plenty of available sites in Denver, but in some other counties, that's not the case.

That's one of the hurdles Jefferson County would face if it tried to switch to voting centers. Schools might be an option, but only if they closed for Election Day, said Susan Miller, Jefferson County's director of elections.

In addition, many of Jefferson County's voters live in the mountains, where there might not be enough people concentrated to warrant the use of an election center. Furthermore, if mountain precincts are eliminated, voters living in more remote areas would have to drive a substantial distance to cast a ballot, Miller said.

Ideally, the county could create voting centers while keeping some precinct voting in place. Right now, however, the law requires counties to use either the precinct system or voting centers, and prohibits the use of both.

Miller said she hopes the law will be changed, but until it is, Jefferson County isn't likely to use voting centers. "There are a lot of problems," she said.

Pros and cons

A handful of metro-area counties plan to abandon precinct polling places in favor of voting centers, where voters can go to any one of dozens of locations to cast their ballots. Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of that approach:

Pro

? Fewer election judges: Election judges are one of the most expensive costs of an election. With vote centers, some counties predict they will be able to greatly reduce the number of judges they need to hire.

Con

? Convenience: Voters accustomed to walking to their precincts will have to locate a voting center near them.