Wood County Clerk Joe Gonzales appeared before the Wood County Commission on Monday to go over proposed voting location consolidations. With challenges in recruiting poll workers and other concerns, officials want to move some smaller precincts to a single voting location. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

PARKERSBURG — In a move to better serve the citizens of the county, the Wood County Commission approved a number of voting precinct consolidations that will be in place for the general election in November.

Wood County Clerk Joe Gonzales appeared before the commission on Monday to present a list of the nine proposed consolidated voting locations and get their approval on the plan before he sends it to the West Virginia Secretary of State’s office for a final review and approval.

Officials have been looking at consolidating some of the voting locations serving smaller precincts to better serve voters.

“The consolidated locations are about within a mile of their original locations,” he said. “They are very close in proximity.

“We are going to move some precincts and combine them with others in a single location.”

The proposed location changes include:

* Precinct 47 is proposed to move from Fellowship Baptist Church to Greenmont Elementary School at 209 58th St. in Vienna.

* Precinct 77 is proposed to move from Edison Middle School to Martin Elementary School, 1301 Hillcrest St. in Parkersburg.

* Precinct 52 is proposed to move from Williamstown City Building to Williamstown Elementary School, 430 Caroline Ave. in Williamstown.

* Precinct 33 is proposed to move from Beechwood Presbyterian Church to the Parkersburg High School Cafeteria at 2101 Dudley Ave. in Parkersburg.

* Precinct 41 is proposed to move from Vienna Public Library to Neale Elementary School, 2305 Grand Central Ave. in Vienna.

* Precinct 10 is proposed to move from Good Shepherd Church to Jefferson Elementary School, 1103 Plum St. in Parkersburg.

* Precinct 35 is proposed to move from Parkersburg and Wood County Public Library to Madison Elementary School, 1426 32nd St. in Parkersburg.

* Precinct 19 is proposed to move from Emmanuel Baptist Church to the new City Park Pavilion, 1920 Park Ave., Building A in Parkersburg.

* Precincts 27, 37A and 38 are proposed to move from Criss Elementary School to the new City Park Pavilion, 1920 Park Ave., Building A in Parkersburg.

Gonzales highlighted the proposed move of the voting precincts that use Criss School and Emmanuel Baptist Church that are being moved to the new City Park Pavilion.

Criss School is one of the schools slated for closure, possibly by 2028, he said.

“We would have to come up with something anyway,” Gonzales said. “The new City Park Pavilion is right between both locations. We got permission from the city to move those places to the pavilion.

“There is a lot of space for people to come in and vote. There is a kitchen, plenty of bathrooms and it is ADA compliant. I think that is going to be a good move.”

The proposed changes come as county officials have had challenges finding enough poll workers for the voting locations on Primary Election Day and Election Day.

“It is getting harder and harder to get poll workers,” Gonzales said. “We are lucky to have the ones we do. They do an excellent job.”

There have been times when poll workers have become ill, get injured, have a family situation they have to attend to and other things.

“It is stressful to have to fill those positions at the last moment,” Gonzales said. “This will help a little bit.”

The county has needed 307 poll workers to do an election. With this proposal, the county will need only 280 poll workers.

“It will save us 27 poll workers,” Gonzales said.

Many of their consistent poll workers are getting older and officials are looking at options to better accommodate the ones who want to continue as well as bring in new people.

Gonzales said he is checking with Kanawha County to see how they do a system where county employees have to work elections as poll workers. He wants to make one of his employees the supply commissioner and be responsible for getting the thumb drives they use back to the courthouse to be tabulated.

There was an issue during the primary election where a thumb drive was misplaced. County officials were able to tabulate the votes using a backup and checking them against the printed ballots. The thumb drive was located in the materials that were brought to the courthouse and officials ran the thumb drive during the canvas to show everything came out correctly.

Once the changes are approval from the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office, Gonzales said all of the voters who will be impacted by the change in voting locations will be sent a letter notifying them of the change and where they will need to go to vote. He is estimating his office will be sending out about 8,000 letters.

Commissioner Jimmy Colombo asked Gonzales if this change will cut down on some confusion in where to go on Election Day.

Gonzales said he believed it would, once people know where to go.

The clerk’s office will also be running two legal ads in the Parkersburg News and Sentinel on June 22 and June 29 detailing the proposed changes and to allow people to comment on them and ask questions. As always, if people have questions about where they need to vote, they can contact the Wood County Clerk’s Office, Gonzales said.

Colombo and Commissioner Jim Hamric approved the measure for the county. Commission President Blair Couch was absent Monday.

The County Clerk’s Office has to have the list of proposed voting location changes to the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office by July 6. Gonzales said he hopes to get approval soon after.

In other business:

* The commission put Willis Perry in nomination to the WV Route 2 and I-68 Authority.

* The commission put Josh Brannon and Jeffrey Morrison in nomination to the Wood County Fire Board.

* A court officer started Monday as the security officer for the Wood County Courthouse and the Wood County Tax Office. The individual is a certified police officer and has spent time as a road deputy with the Wood County Sheriff’s Department.

Contact Brett Dunlap at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com