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Common ballots a first in Lexington
Nov 02, 2009 (The State - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Municipal elections Tuesday in eight Lexington County communities mark the first time so many are holding the balloting simultaneously.
The consolidation is the brainchild of county elections officials, who sought it to reduce voter confusion and end headaches in running multiple elections yearly.
A common election for communities is easier "instead of having them all over the board," county elections director Dean Crepes said.
The change is one officials at the State Elections Commission encourage.
"It's easier for everyone involved to prepare for one election day," commission spokesman Chris Whitmire said.
County officials decided to cluster the common ballot in November of odd-numbered years so municipal contests can be centerpieces instead of getting less attention when held at the same time as state and national campaigns.
Municipal leaders also were told Lexington County officials would no longer run elections for communities that didn't go along with the move.
That is a prospect that swayed many communities that didn't want to purchase expensive voting equipment or recruit personnel to run elections.
Batesburg-Leesville, Chapin and Pine Ridge already held their ballots on the first Tuesday of November. For Irmo and West Columbia, it was a matter of delaying their ballots a few months.
But the move was significant for other communities.
Summit pushed back its election nearly 1 1/2 years to get in line. And Lexington won't hold its first ballot under the change until 2011, one year later.
Gaston officials are looking at making the change, Crepes said.
That leaves Cayce, Gilbert and Springdale as holdouts, as town officials prefer to stick with traditional local election days.
For now, Crepes isn't asking the five county school boards to switch to odd-year elections.
Municipalities tend to have irregular borders that require separate booths and voter rolls if held in conjunction with other elections.
Even then, confusion is rampant among voters and officials over who can vote in communities, Crepes said.
School districts rarely have that problem, so letting their election remain in conjunction with state and national voting is no headache, he said.
Reach Flach at (803) 771-8483.
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