Correspondent

The Claiborne County Election Commission office will be moving prior to July 1st.

Following several weeks of uncertainty, the commission reached an agreement with the Claiborne County Board of Education to occupy space in the vocational building at 1403 Tazewell Road in Tazewell.

For some time, the commission had been told that the lease on the current office space was unlikely to be renewed. That was confirmed nearly two weeks ago. The commission had started to look for a different office space and had reached a tentative understanding with the owners of the Farm Bureau building on Hwy. 33. Election Administrator Carolyn O'Dell prepared a letter of commitment for that space. County Mayor Virgil Herrell cited budget concerns and declined to sign the letter.

In the interim, the election commission had learned that space might be available in the vocational building. O'Dell met with the county budget committee on June 6th and received the go ahead to occupy that space at a savings of more than $9,000 per year. The situation was complicated in that the school board was not able to commit to that arrangement until their meeting on June 8th. State law requires that the election office publish their location and hours of operation at least 30 days before the start of early voting.

It now appears that a potential disaster has been averted with only days to spare. The old election office on Court Street will continue to be in operation until the new office has been wired for computer and telephone connections and become fully functional.

The election commission met on June 6th where the future of the office location was a primary subject.

In other business the commission discussed early voting hours and locations. Early voting for the August election will be available at the Tazewell Vocational Building and at the Harrogate City Hall July 14-29. Weekday hours will be 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. and on Saturday from 9 a.m. until noon.

"There is a whole lot of 'if's' in this situation," said Commissioner Wayne Surber, citing uncertainty about the location of the office.

Some of those "if's" have been resolved with the commitment for the vocational building.

It was announced that just over 18,900 voters were registered in Claiborne County as of the first week in June. Signs, ramps, and matting required to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) are being shipped to the county. Candidates are invited to review a sample ballot at the office for the August election to ensure accuracy. At least one ADA compliant voting machine will be available at each early voting location and each precinct on Election Day.

The commission then started the task of identifying qualified voters who were willing to work during the early voting period. Each site will require three judges, two registrars, and one officer.

The next election commission meeting was scheduled for 6 p.m. on June 13th with the regular monthly meeting set for 6.pm. on July 5th instead of the normal meeting date which would have been July 4th.