Andy Close
WARREN, Pa. – There will be a new polling location for the City of Warren residents in the Central precinct, as the Salvation Army will take the place of the Warren County Courthouse.
The Warren County Election Board approved that motion during Wednesday’s meeting.
The move assures that all six precincts in the City of Warren will poll at two locations, with Central residents joining those from the South and the West at the Salvation Army, while those in the North, East, and Southeast will remain at Holy Redeemer Church.
Warren County Director of Elections Krystal Ransom said that even with the additional precinct, the Salvation Army will only have 2,156 registered voters, compared with 3,836 at Holy Redeemer.
“Single point of entry has been in place at the courthouse since 2016, and it’s just not feasible at this point in time that both are open when it’s single point of entry any other day,” Ransom said.
The back entrance is the only point of entry throughout the year, but the front doors are open on election day.
“We have to have an extra sheriff’s deputy there, and they are already extended as far as they can go.”
Commissioner Ben Kafferlin cited that as an issue as well, but noted his chief reason for wanting to move locations had to do with the difficulty of voters getting to the courthouse on election day.
“What pushed me over is the terrible parking situation we’ve had in multiple elections,” Kafferlin said. “People haven’t been able to park and gain appropriate access. The foyer (of the courthouse) is just such a nice place to vote, but we’ve had a lot of people complain about the parking and someone would have to park two blocks away. I started to wonder if there was a better way, not asking people to walk several blocks to vote.”
Commissioner Jeff Eggleston concurred, citing efficiency as another reason why the move makes sense.
“My view is one of efficient,” Eggleston said. “It’s better to be able to monitor and set up one location for the people that need to vote. There’s a lot that goes on at the courthouse the day of an election. To me, I don’t think there’s a good argument against it.”
Ransom noted that Major Shane Budd with the Salvation Army was on board as well.
“His only concern was with how many more tables they would need, but said that’s something they will be able to figure out,” Ransom said.
