LAURINBURG — Despite hopes of being able to move the Precinct 4 site back to the National Guard Armory for the upcoming primary election, voters will still be required to visit the South Fire Station.
The 3,247 residents in Precinct 4 went through three elections back in the Armory after it was closed in March 2017 because traces of lead. The lead was attributed to the indoor firing range in the building and, while there were no traces of airborne lead, there were still potential health risks to children and the elderly.
It reopened in March 2018.
The Armory is currently undergoing renovations done by the HM Kern Cooperation out of Greensboro. Project Manager David Couch spoke to WLNC earlier this week, stating that while progress had been made, the original completion date of late February had been adjusted to mid- or late May 2020.
“Until the Armory is ready, we won’t be able to use it,” said Deputy Director for the Board of Elections Chassidy Brewer. “So we’ll be using the fire station, but hopefully we’ll be back in there… just not for this election.”
Despite the hopes of using the Armory for the primary, there isn’t going to be much for the elections office to change since the items sent out to voters in the precinct already had the location listed as the fire station.
The primary elections will be held on March 3.
Merging precincts
The primary election will also be the first time some voters will be moved to different locations as the polling stations went from 10 precincts to seven.
The three precincts that will be closing would be Precinct 5 at Johns Fire Station, Precinct 6 at East Laurinburg and Precinct 8 at Sneads Grove.
The merge will safe the county an estimated $33,000.
The seven locations are:
— Precinct 1, County Annex at 231 E Cronly St. in Laurinburg
— Precinct 2, The Learning Center at 420 Stewartsville Road in Laurinburg
— Precinct 3, Scotland Place at 1210 Turnpike Road in Laurinburg
— Precinct 4, South Fire Station at 1547 Hickory St. in Laurinburg
— Precinct 5, Gibson Fire Station at 6280 Gibson Road in Gibson
— Precinct 6, Laurel Hill Community Building at 14940 Church St. in Laurel Hill
— Precinct 7, Wagram Recreation Center at 24441 Marlboro St. in Wagram
Reach Katelin Gandee at 910-506-3171 or at [email protected]