Three Precincts Get New Voting Sites

RISON - Voters in the Bowman, Whiteville and Harper townships will cast their ballots in new locations during the upcoming November general election, said John Appleget, chairman of the Cleveland County Election Commission.Appleget said notices were mailed to voters in all three townships last week informing them of the changes. He said the commission decided on the new locations during a meeting last month.Under the new arrangement, the Bowman and Whiteville polling sites have been consoli-dated to Pleasant Ridge Missionary Baptist Church, located about on Rodgers Road West about a half mile from the Hwy. 63 intersection.Meanwhile, the voting location for the Harper township is being moved to Bethel #2 Missionary Baptist Church, 2230 Hwy. 35 South in the Herbine community.Appleget said the decision to consolidate the Bowman and Whiteville townships to Pleasant Ridge was due mostly to issues with the previous two polling sites.The Bowman township, which encompasses roughly both sides of Hwy. 133 from about the Big Creek bridges to the Cleveland/ Jefferson County line, was using the Hwy. 133 Fire Station, which has a gravel parking area that can make it difficult for handicap voters. Meanwhile, he said the Whiteville township, which covers roughly both sides of Hwy. 63 from north of the Woodlawn area to the Cleveland/Jefferson County line, was using Woodlawn Fire Station No. 2, which did not having heating nor air conditioning. Appleget said it was difficult to find poll workers to work that location due to those conditions.Appleget noted that Whiteville had previously used Pleasant Ridge Church as the polling location but it was moved while the church was building a new facility.The primary reason for moving the Harper township polling site was for convenience, Appleget said. Harper hs been using the Living Grace Church at 19340 Hwy. 63 near Pansy.Appleget explained that voters from within the Harper townshi...