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For many years, the Troup County School System has expressed its wishes to no longer have schools used as polling places out of concerns for school safety. With the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, TCSS has become more insistent. Now it looks like the school system is finally getting its way and schools will no longer host voting in Troup County.

The Troup County Board of Elections held a public hearing on Thursday to hear comments from voters. Elections Supervisor Andy Harper went over the proposed changes to each voting precinct.

The proposed changes would go into effect for the November election and beyond. Residents will vote on Tuesday at their regular polling places.

 Hollis Hand

Voters who currently vote at Hollis Hand will have their voting place moved. The current plan is to combine the Hollis Hand and Northside precincts into one precinct.

“We’re combining Hollis Hand and Northside and moving into the Methodist Church on Broad St. Those two precincts would go there to vote on Election Day if they didn’t early vote,” Harper said.

Admin Building

 The proposed changes will not affect voters who cast their ballots at the Admin Building on Dallis St. Harper said no changes are planned for the precinct.

Hammett

Similarly, the proposed precinct changes will not affect the Hammett precinct, which is currently located at Faith Baptist Church on Hammett Road.

Griggs Center

The Griggs precinct will incorporate parts of the city and a few unincorporated islands within LaGrange from the Troup High precinct, which is going away, said Harper.

“The county voters that are down on Bartley Road area and nearby, they will move to Rosemont,” Harper said. “Troup High School will no longer be a precinct. The majority of those voters will be incorporated into the Griggs Center.”

The individuals who already vote at the Griggs Center will continue voting there.

“They will stay there and we will add in people. We’ve got new parking with the Griggs Center expansion, so it’s a little bit better,” Harper said.

West Point

The West Point precinct will not see any changes, Harper said.

Hogansville

The city voters in Hogansville will remain unaffected, but some county voters would return to a reestablished Mountville precinct.

“For the unincorporated part of Hogansville, we are going back to the original line that was divided by the creek at Mountville-Big Springs Road. It’s going to be the dividing line like it was before,” Harper said.

“Some Hogansville voters will come back to Mountville. They’re going to go to Mountville Baptist Church. They’ve got an annex building being built there,” he said.

Both of Hogansville’s two precincts will remain open, but only for city elections. St. Paul AME Church was recently added as a second precinct for Hogansville in addition to the one at the library. Harper said the church precinct will only be open for city elections.

“If it’s a county election, like next year, it will just be at the library, the county does not see the need for it but the city does,” Harper said. “The library can handle it, but the city wants two precincts, so they’re going to get two precincts.”

East Vernon

 The East Vernon precinct, which currently votes at East Vernon Baptist Church on Roanoke Road will remain the same.

Rosemont

The Rosemont precinct will remain at the Troup County Fire Administration Building, but some Rosemont voters will go back to the reestablished Mountville precinct.

“We’re redrawing the lines a little bit differently to incorporate some of the numbers and try to bring the numbers of Mountville back up a little bit,” Harper said.

Mountville

The proposed changes include the re-establishment of the Mountville voting precinct. Voting will be held at the Mountville Baptist Church.

Harper said the reestablished Mountville precinct covers the area north of Cook Road up to the creek that divides it with the Hogansville district.

McClendon

Voting for the McClendon precinct is current is currently held at Hillcrest Elementary School. With the push to get polling places out of schools, the new precinct will be at Hillcrest Baptist Church at the end of Robert Hayes Rd.

The name of the precinct will also be changed from McClendon to Hillcrest. Harper said the original name is based on flood maps and historical maps but can be confusing so they’re going to rename it Hillcrest.

The voters in Hillcrest will stay in Hillcrest, they are just moving from the school to the church.

Long Cane

The Long Cane precinct, which currently has its polls at Grace Baptist Church, will see no voter changes. The only change will be the precinct name, which is being renamed Grace for clarification purposes.

Gardner Newman

 The Gardner Newman precinct will remain in the Troup County School System Administration Building. Some of the voters that were incorporated from Mountville will return to the Mountville Precinct.

“Everybody on the east side of the city limit lines, that are in the county are going back to Mountville that were there previously,” Harper said.

Gray Hill

 The Gray Hill precinct has no proposed changes.

Highland

The Highland precinct, otherwise known as Troup High, is closing. The city voters and some county voters will move to the Griggs Center. The remaining county voters will move to the Rosemont precinct.

Northside

The Northside precinct, which currently votes at The Hope Academy, will be relocated to the First Methodist Church of LaGrange on Broad Street. No other changes are proposed for the precinct.

The final decision

 After the public hearing on Thursday, a first reading was held for the proposed changes with no dissent from the Election Board. The City of LaGrange is expected to sign off on the changes at their meeting on Tuesday night. A final vote for the proposed change is scheduled at the Elections Board Meeting on July 20.