The Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections voted to move the polling location for Precinct 7A to the Athens-Clarke County Library at 2025 Baxter Street effective for the May 2026 election.

Board member Miss Till moved the change and the motion was seconded; the board approved the move by voice vote with no recorded opposition. The board did not record individual roll-call tallies in the meeting transcript.

The board’s staff reported that a site visit to Betty Holston Elementary on Oct. 3 found constrained parking, circulation that would mix voters with school traffic and limited space in the rooms identified for use. Staff said use of the school’s library could create “undo hardship to the school administration” and disrupt students on busy days, including a moving-up ceremony scheduled in May 2026.

Elections staff presented capacity and wait-time modeling that informed the recommendation to use the library. Staff said the consolidated location would serve 6,368 active voters from the two precincts combined and noted that the precincts’ highest combined election-day turnout in the record cited was about 1,165 voters in November 2022. Using planned resources — 18 ballot-marking devices, five full check-in pads, two scanners and 12 poll workers — staff said they expect to keep lines under 30 minutes and that the library processed as many as 1,257 voters during a two-hour advanced-voting period in a past election.

Staff also presented alternatives: two private facilities (Alps Road Presbyterian Church and Mount Pleasant Baptist Church) that staff had contacted but had not yet confirmed, and the option to retain consolidation at the library. The board discussed legal guidance received from the Secretary of State’s office and an attorney general opinion about consolidating locations for precincts; staff advised that noticing and reporting steps would follow a formal board vote and that the change could be implemented after the December board meeting schedule to allow time for required notices and reports.

The motion directs staff to implement the library location for 7A beginning with the May 2026 election and to evaluate turnout and wait-time data after the 2026 elections to determine whether further changes are needed.