MANSFIELD — The busiest single polling location in Richland County — outside of the Board of Elections itself — is out of the voting business.
Berean Baptist Church at 2145 Middle Bellville Road, which had been the polling place for seven precincts in the City of Mansfield and Washington Township, has notified the Richland County Board of Elections it will no longer serve as a voting location.
“This is not done with any malice,” said Berean Baptist Church Lead Pastor Dan Krause told Richland Source.
“We believe it’s important every citizen exercises their right to vote. We value what the (elections board staff and volunteers) do and the effort they make. We pray for our elected leaders,” Krause said.
The pastor said the church leaders simply made a decision to use Berean’s space and resources for other ministries.
“Time and space are finite resources. We won’t need to cancel other planned activities on Mondays and Tuesdays (during an election cycle),” Krause said.
The pastor said church leaders began considering pulling out of the voting scene in the spring of 2024, but opted to continue during what was a busy presidential election year.
He said the decision was made in December to give the Board of Elections time to locate other polling sites before the May primary.
The seven precincts — Mansfield 1A, 1B, 1E and 1F, along with Washington Township B, C and F — accounted for 6,366 ballots cast in the November 2024 election. Of those, 2,306 voted in-person on Election Day.
County Board of Elections Director Matt Finfgeld thanked Berean Baptist Church officials for years of polling service.
“We value our partners,” he said. “These partners allow residents to vote closer to where they live and that can be important.”
New polling locations will be finalized Tuesday during a Richland County Board of Elections meeting, according to Finfgeld.
Voters in these precincts will be notified by mail of their new polling location, he said.
Finfgeld said the Board of Elections urges voters to take advantage of early, in-person voting opportunities, as well as absentee ballots.
The deadline to request an absentee ballot by mail for the May 6 election is April 29.
Absentee ballots must be postmarked by the day before the election in order to be counted, or can dropped off at the Board of Elections at 1495 W. Longview Ave. Suite 101 in Mansfield, either in the office or the locked, secured dropbox located in the rear, lower level parking area of the Longview Center.
Early, in-person voting starts on April 8 at the Board of Elections office. That is also the day local elections officials can begin mailing out the absentee/mail ballots to voters who requested them.
For more information on any local election questions, call the Board of Elections at 419-774-5530 or visit the board’s website.