Dates to know
› >Last day to register to vote: Feb. 6› Last day to request absentee ballot: Feb. 28› Early voting period: Feb. 15-March 2› Election Day: March 7For more information, contact the Hamilton County Election Commission at 493-5100 or visit its website at elect.hamiltontn.gov.
The Hamilton County Election Commission has shot down a request by the Chattanooga City Council to add two more early voting sites for the March 7 city election.
The council recently asked the body to include the South Chattanooga and Glenwood Youth and Family Development centers as part of its early voting offerings.
Last Wednesday, the Election Commission voted 3-1 to stick with the three locations it has been using: the Brainerd Recreation Center, the North River Civic Center in Northgate and the Election Commission Office on Amnicola Highway. Commissioner Kelvin Scott opposed the measure, and Commission Secretary Jerry Summers was absent.
"It's about accessibility," Scott said, citing complaints of long lines and transportation problems to the early voting sites. "You have people in certain parts of town who cannot get way over to Brainerd. They cannot get way down to Amnicola."
Commission Chairman Michael Walden said he hesitated to expand the number of early voting sites without supporting data.
"If we are going to do this, I think we should take more time," said Walden. "Study it, look at it, and then make a decision. But it would not be in my recommendation or position that we do anything on it today."
Additional voting sites will not be determined by hunches, feelings, wants or "a request from a politician," Walden said. The law requires the election commission give the city one satellite location, but they have two and want four, he said.
"If people are complaining to me, that's warranted enough to fix the problem," Scott said.
"We have election day, which gives people the opportunity to vote," said Commissioner Ruth Braly, describing early voting as "just a convenience."
Braly said the commission may want to consider adding one more location in the future, but not for this election.
District 7 Councilman Chris Anderson, who championed the proposal for extra early voting stations, voiced frustration in a community email.
"This is a shame, in light of the long lines we saw at polls in November and shrinking voter participation," Anderson said. "The closest site to District 7 for early voting will be the Election Commission on Amnicola Highway. That is quite a trip for many in our district."
Anderson asked District 7 voters to contact him if they need a ride to vote early.
Email Paul Leach at pleach@timesfreepress.com.