SHILOH — Voters in four Richland County precincts will head to new polling places for the Nov. 3 general election and all future elections, local election officials have announced.
According to Director of Elections Matt Finfgeld and Deputy Director Jane Zimmermann, the Richland County Board of Elections has permanently retired four former voting sites: Bloominggrove Township Hall, Butler Township Hall, Shiloh Senior Center and Franklin Township Fire Station.
Three of the precincts are consolidating into the Buckeye Community Center in Shiloh and the fourth will move from a fire station into a church.
New voting sites for the affected precincts are:
- BLMG Precinct: Moving from Bloominggrove Township Hall to the Buckeye Community Center, 79 Noble Road W., Shiloh.
- BUTLER Precinct: Moving from Butler Township Hall to the Buckeye Community Center, 79 Noble Road W., Shiloh.
- CASS Precinct: Moving from the Shiloh Senior Center to the Buckeye Community Center, 79 Noble Road W., Shiloh.
- FRANKLIN Precinct: Moving from the Franklin Township Fire Station to Shenandoah Christian Church, 5642 Ohio 13 N., Shiloh.
“Anytime we can consolidate polling locations is better for everyone based on the number of workers needed and equipment availability and flexibility. Both of these new locations also have more accessibility,” Finfgeld said Wednesday.
“The Buckeye Community Center is a beautiful building … a very nice place. The ADA accessibility is much better,” he said.
“At the fire station, they had had to pull the trucks outside on election day and parking was not ideal,” Finfgeld said.
“This has nothing to do with any problems at the former locations. They were all great to work with throughout the years,” he said.
The changes will impact about 2,700 registered voters in the four precincts, according to Finfgeld.
Voters registered in these precincts will receive a notice in the mail detailing their new polling location name and address. Election officials said they do not anticipate further revisions unless an emergency arises.
The board of elections also highlighted key deadlines and schedule details for the upcoming Nov. 3 general election:
- Oct. 5: Deadline to register to vote or update voter registration information. The board office will remain open until 9 p.m. that day.
- Oct. 6: Early in-person voting begins on the lower level at 1495 W. Longview Ave. Absentee ballots will also begin mailing to voters who submitted requests.
- Oct. 27: Deadline to request an absentee ballot. Request forms must be received by the board office by 8:30 p.m.
- Nov. 1: Early in-person voting concludes at 5 p.m.
- Nov. 3 (Election Day): Polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. All absentee ballots must be received in the board of elections office by 7:30 p.m. Officials strongly advised submitting mail-in ballots as early as possible.
Voters with questions regarding polling site changes or other election issues can contact the Richland County Board of Elections at 419-774-5530.
