PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. — County leaders in Prince William want to move voting precincts following last fall’s election that saw record voter turnout.
According to county documents, officials received several complaints from those who work at the Elks Lodge at 14602 Minnieville Road in Woodbridge following last November’s Presidential Election. On Election Day, there were too few parking spaces, and the number of voters in the precinct outweighed the capacity for the building at the lodge.
Now the Prince William Board of Supervisors at 2 p.m. Tuesday will hold a public hearing on whether to move the polling place to nearby larger facility on Heritage Baptist Church on Spriggs Road.
A second polling place, the Pace West School at 14490 John Marhsall Highway in Gainesville, is also in need of a relocation. Officials say the school building that has also served as a polling location will soon close, and that they will need to move the polling location to nearby Haymarket Town Hall at 15000 Washington Street.
A decision by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday is needed so new voter cards can be mailed out to affected residents in time for a scheduled primary election on June 7.
The move comes after a decennial redistricting process in Virginia was completed in 2011. Afterward, many voters throughout Prince William County unknowingly went to the wrong polling place on Election Day in November. A high voter turnout, two state constitutional ballot questions, proved to be a challenge for volunteer poll workers and led to long lines at many polling stations.
