Letter to the editor: Complicating voting precincts

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To the editor:

I recently attended a Zoom meeting of the Chatham County Board of Elections. The meeting was on the redrawing and combining of existing voting precincts.

I cannot speak for all precincts, but there appeared to be little notification to the voters of Oakland Precinct. Oakland was split with part of the voters sent to vote in Moncure and the others to Goldston Precinct.

The heaviest areas of population in Oakland are five miles or less from the former voting site, the tax-payer-funded Asbury Fire Station. It is 13-plus miles for some voters to Goldston and eight-plus miles for some to vote in Moncure. This decision appeared to be made based on what was easiest for BOE employees with little if any regard to voter accessibility.

The last I checked, BOE employees are paid with voter, tax-payer dollars. They work for the citizens of Chatham County and that includes Oakland Precinct.

I submit that a major decision such as this one should be made in the best interest of voters, not what is easiest for BOE employees.

Johnny Shaw
Moncure