Published: October 23, 2009 11:35 pm      

Elbow district voters may head to Avilton in 2010

Lack of cellular service at polling location kept judges from getting message to stay open until 9:30 p.m. in 2006

OAKLAND — Voters in Garrett County's Elbow precinct may find themselves going out of their way to make their voice heard during next year's election.

The Garrett County Board of Elections is proposing to move the Elbow polling location. The polling place is currently located at the Savage Mountain Youth Center and would be moved to the Avilton Community Center.

According to Lois Martin, president of the Board of Elections, the move is being proposed because of “safety concerns, no cell phone service and (a) lack of judges in the district.” Martin added that the district lines would not be affected and the Elbow precinct would remain.

“It's (currently) at the Youth Center, which is a good location, but there's no cell phone service there for any carrier my judges have,” said Steve Fratz, Garrett County election director. “There's a nice facility in Avilton, which is just a few miles away. We thought we could split that facility with Avilton and Elbow, but we're just seeing what people in the district think.”

Fratz said that the proposal was inspired in part by the 2006 General Election, where the state, under court order, extended voting until 9:30 p.m. rather than 8 p.m. “Since there is no cell phone service at the site, the judges had to drive to the top of the hill to call us,” said Fratz. “Leaving the polling place is bad enough, but they did not get the message to stay open until after 8 p.m. and they had already totaled the voting units out.”

Fratz also said that this is the board's only proposal to move a polling place this year. He added that the proposal was not intended to discourage people from voting, and offered a number of alternative methods for people to cast their vote. “In the 2010 Gubernatorial Election, Maryland voters will have the opportunity to vote 11 days before Election Day (including Saturday) at a polling site located in Oakland,” said Fratz. “Also, we have 'no-excuse' absentee which means for any reason voters can request a ballot sent directly to their home.”

Another problem facing Elbow precinct voting, Fratz said, is that the judges who used to work the Elbow polling place have resigned. “Since 2000 we have had problems securing judges for the Elbow district,” said Fratz. “As a matter of fact, we sent a person from Oakland to conduct four elections in 2000 and 2002.”

Fratz said there are 101 registered voters in the Elbow district. Since Fratz is required by state law to have equal representation with judges from both the Democrat and Republican parties, this comparatively small number of voters makes it difficult to find judges.

Martin said that any questions or concerns regarding the potential move should be directed to the Board of Elections office.

Contact Cory Galliher at cgalliher@times-news.com.