The Franklin County Board of Elections has expanded the walk-in voting site on Morse Road by 8 thousand square feet. Jim Letizia reports.
In a written statement, the board says the now 98 thousand square foot facility will be able to handle 12 hundred voters at a time. The move is designed to prevent lines of people from stretching outside to the parking lot during peak voting periods. Officials expect high voter turnout during the presidential primary in March and the general election in November. In recent presidential election years, thousands more people voted early all day on the busiest days just before the primary and general elections. The facility will also have more poll workers to identify voters who need to cast a provisional ballot because they have not provided an updated change of name or address. Those voters will be directed to another room to cast a paper ballot instead of waiting in line for voting machines. Nearly 69 thousand people voted early and in- person during the 2012 presidential election, with absentee ballots accounting for over 40 percent of all votes cast.
