Appomattox County Board of Supervisors hears proposal to combine voting precincts

The Appomattox County Board of Supervisors (BOS) unanimously approved a motion to hold a public hearing in regard to a proposal to close the Chap and Agee voting precincts and combine them with existing locations.

Lannis Selz, secretary of the Appomattox County Electoral Board, made a presentation to the supervisors, outlining the benefits of potentially combining the Chap precinct with Spout Spring in the Falling River District and the Agee precinct with Oakville in the Piney Mountain District. The mergers would prove to be a cost-saving measure, according to financial numbers Selz presented.

The findings were made by the Precinct Review Committee, which Selz was representing at the meeting.

“As the parties go away from conventions and go to a required primary every year, we used to count on about one-and-a-half elections per year, now that’s gonna be two, and the budgets will reflect that,” Selz said. “It behooves us to look anywhere we can for opportunities to reduce the budget by making appropriate changes, and one of those may be reducing the number of election day voting precincts from nine to seven, which would realize savings every year, both in operating costs and equipment.”

The Agee facility needs major upgrades. The building has no running water or indoor plumbing, poor heating, no air conditioning, is at an inconvenient location not on a major road, and serves no other current purpose to the county other than as a voting precinct. Agee currently serves 772 registered voters.

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