Board keeps Providence polling place, grants director authority to fund cooling measures

The Richmond County Board of Elections voted to keep Providence Baptist Church as the polling place for the June 16 runoff and authorized Executive Director Travis to spend reasonable amounts to address cooling and staffing needs.

The motion, offered by a board member and adopted by voice vote, said the board would not temporarily move precinct 310 but would "give the executive director authority and discretion to spend reasonable amounts of money as he deems proper" to "keep the staff cool, keep the voters cool, and keep the room cool for this runoff." The board member who moved the motion specified that "anything under about $7,000 would be reasonable."

The board considered several options after staff said a poll worker passed out during the primary and a child also experienced heat-related problems at Providence. Travis outlined three approaches: rent heavy-duty spot coolers (staff cited roughly $4,860–$5,000 per unit for a day), deploy spot coolers that require venting through doors (which would require temporary ducting), or use additional industrial fans and staffing measures.

"To rent the spot cooler ... is about $5,000 for the day," Travis said, noting that venting and electrical capacity pose challenges for large rental units. He also told the board that Belair Middle School, next to Providence, had offered temporary use of its gym, but staff and several members concluded the combination of short lead time and notification costs made moving the site a difficult option. Mailing notices to the precinct's approximately 7,500 registered voters would cost roughly $6,000, staff said.

Board members argued for lower-cost, lower-risk responses: more industrial fans, extra breaks, bottled water, one or two standby workers and an off-duty deputy at the intersection to direct voters. Member Beverly and Member Barnes both urged maximizing fans and staffing before committing to high-cost rentals.

The motion adopted gives the executive director discretion to act on those recommendations and to procure cooling or staffing measures the director judges appropriate for the runoff. The board carried the motion by voice vote.

Next procedural steps noted during the meeting included advanced voting and early tabulation schedules for the runoff and the board's pre-certification and certification meetings later in the month.