For years during local and national elections, Preble County has managed as many as 20 polling locations.
Now the county board of election is consolidating those sites down to six.
The remaining sites include Fairhaven Community Church and five area schools: Twin Valley Schools, Preble Shawnee Schools, Eaton Community Schools, National Trail Local Schools and Tri‐County North Schools. A full list is here.
Lisa Boggs, director of the Preble County Board of Elections, said in the long-run, this permanent change will save taxpayers money.
"We were paying location rental fees, we were also having to pay an ADA crew to send out things to the 20 locations. The schools are ADA-compliant already and the moving company rather than going to 20 locations now goes down to six," said Boggs.
"Also, we started seeing trends in 2022 that more and more people who actually vote are doing so early in the 28 days prior to the election, or by mail."
She also said they have fewer volunteers willing to work the 12-hour shift on election day.
On Nov. 4, sheriff’s deputies will be at the schools to ensure student and voter safety.
Boggs' team is also encouraging people to use curbside voting on election day if they have mobility challenges.
"We will have sign boards out at every location that says curbside voting available, and it has our number call us, then we will contact the polling location," explained Boggs. "They, a Democrat and a Republican will go out. They will check the voter in."
The team then collects the ballot in a large folder, seals it and takes it inside the polling office where it will be counted.
There are currently 27,610 registered voters in Preble County.