Schools. VFW halls. Grocery stores. Sports arenas. Retirement centers. These diverse locations all have a connecting thread: they’ve been used as election poll sites in counties throughout the United States. Polling places are often selected because they are easily recognized by community members. And they play an essential role during the early-in person voting period and on Election Day, allowing voters to head to a familiar location that’s nearby to cast their ballots.
However, knowing where your poll site is located isn’t always so straightforward, even though it should be. While lawmakers and election officials are supposed to facilitate a seamless experience for voters, poll site closures and changes can often make voting anything but that – and even deter voters from participating in the election altogether. That is why it’s so important to be aware of, account for, and report any unanticipated or burdensome poll site changes. This is critical not only so you can successfully cast your ballot, but also so advocates, including the Legal Defense Fund (LDF), can take action to help ensure a smoother experience in the future.
Before the 2013 Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which significantly weakened a key provision of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), the law required the federal government to approve any changes to voting – including poll site changes – in select states and counties to ensure that the changes didn’t limit voting access, particularly for Black and Brown voters. Nine states fell under this requirement, known as preclearance, based on a formula that considered the states’ histories of restricting people from exercising their right to vote. These states included all seven states in which LDF’s Black Voters on the Rise project focuses our advocacy work. And there is plenty of advocacy work to be done.
In fact, since the Shelby decision suspended the preclearance requirement, many of these states have enacted policies restricting voting access, and voters are now experiencing new forms of voter suppression with a disparate and greater impact on Black communities. One study from the Leadership Conference for Civil and Human Rights documented hundreds of poll site closures in areas previously covered by the VRA’s preclearance requirement in the years following the Shelby decision.
LDF’s Black Voters on the Rise team has monitored elections in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas for years and has found that polling place consolidations and changes are a significant factor in limiting voting access. Notably, voting is limited when election officials close, relocate, or consolidate poll sites without sufficiently informing voters, because voters often rely on prior information and past voting habits. Individuals can be discouraged from voting when their longstanding polling places are changed or consolidated, requiring them to search for a posted sign at that location, if there is one, that tells them the correct location — and then travel to that updated location. Many voters do not have Election Day off from work or school and take their lunch break to vote, meaning that delays in finding their poll site can mean the difference between voting or not.
Just this year in Mississippi, LDF’s team dealt with the fallout of confused voters unsure of where to vote in the March 2024 presidential primary because ten voting precincts were moved without proper notice — and the locations of 90 other precincts were incorrect on the state’s election website. Mississippi is among the states that do not have formal language in the state election code with detailed requirements for notifying voters of poll site changes or a timeline of when to provide this notification to voters. This lack of transparency in the election process causes significant confusion and creates barriers to voting.
Moreover, in several elections over the past few years in Louisiana, volunteers working with LDF documented numerous instances of poll site changes where the only clear notices given were signs posted at the closed site on Election Day, with no prior warning. These last-minute closures undoubtedly caused confusion and complications for many voters throughout the state.
To address this recurring issue, LDF’s team worked with a local partner, Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, to enact legislation that ensures voters receive proper notification of poll site changes. The fight began in 2022, when LDF assisted in drafting HB 1065, which amended the Louisiana Election Code to require all poll site changes in the state to be posted on the Louisiana secretary of state’s website, along with information on how voters can opt in to receive electronic notifications about these changes.
The bill was enacted in October 2022, but LDF’s volunteer election monitors and voters still reported issues with notice of poll site changes during the November and December elections that year. While the Louisiana government adhered to the changes in the Election Code and posted the poll site changes on its website, finding the posted changes took substantial time and effort. They were posted in one PDF document for each year, forcing some voters to scroll through many pages to find their polling location.
Recognizing the limitations of HB 1065, LDF and Power Coalition proposed HB 319 for the 2024 legislative session. The bill aimed to strengthen the provisions of the previous bill by requiring the secretary of state to provide information about poll site changes in a “sortable format” and encouraging local election officials to make these changes on their websites as well. The bill also requires parishes, Louisiana’s equivalent of counties, to identify and publicly post the reason for a poll site change — ensuring voters have a clear understanding of not only where, but why their poll site was relocated. This information can provide greater transparency, deter unjustifiable and discriminatory relocations, and build voter trust in the process. The bill was signed into law on June 3, 2024, and will become effective on July 1, 2025.
As these experiences demonstrate, poll site changes without proper notice are a barrier to voters across the country. It is imperative that we continue to document the impact of these changes and use this data and information to propose solutions, including through legislation and other measures. If you or voters in your community experience unexplained or burdensome changes to poll sites, you can report concerns to 866-OUR-VOTE any time throughout the year or on Election Day.
No matter what state you live in, we can continue to fight for greater transparency and accountability in poll site placement. In partnership with Campaign Legal Center, LDF has published multiple guides around poll site advocacy — with more in the works! Check out our toolkits for Louisiana and Mississippi or head to ldf.vote to learn about advocacy opportunities in your home state. Where we vote matters, and you can help ensure the polling places in your community are accessible to all.
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