Public schools no longer polling places in Glynn County

GLYNN COUNTY, GA. – If you live in Glynn County, now is a good time to double-check your designated voting precinct.

Public schools will no longer serve as polling places in Glynn County.

The Glynn County Director of Elections said the county’s goal is to improve overall safety and security.

“That’s not good. People need to go wherever they can to vote,” voter Sue Glazer said. “Some people can go there, some people can’t, but why are they doing that? That’s wrong, that’s just wrong.”

Hal Glazer disagreed and believed schools and politics should be separate.

“I don’t think a school is a place for anything like that,” Hal Glazer said. “We have enough problems right now with the schools, we don’t need to add other people coming in. If you’re going to vote, you’re going to find a place to vote.”

Director of Elections Christopher Channell explained why they’re making the change.

“Well back in 2017 we had six schools with polling locations,” Channell said. “It’s been a goal of ours since then to try to remove all of our polling locations out of the schools primarily for the safety and security of the schools and the students themselves.”

Excessive traffic at public schools is also a safety concern. Since the schools are open on Election Day, school resource officers must split their responsibilities of protecting the students and managing crowds.

“We have hundreds to thousands of individuals that will be coming to a school on a normal Election Day,” Channell said. “We just want to take that stress off the school system and students.”

In total, Glynn County has 19 voting precincts.

This includes three public schools, Golden Isles College & Career Academy, Sterling Elementary, and C. B. Greer Elementary.

Channell said the board of elections is working on a lease agreement to add four new polling places and voters will be notified as soon as they are available.

The polling changes will go into effect by Georgia’s presidential primary election in 2024.