For one Franklin County resident, Election Day raises an interesting question: How exactly do we pick polling locations, anyways?
Tim DeHoff lives in Clintonville, but I meet him at the Tuttle Park Community Center. The park runs along the east side of the Olentangy River just north of Ohio State鈥檚 campus. It鈥檚 where DeHoff goes to vote.
鈥淚鈥檓 curious how we determine polling locations and where you vote,鈥� he explains, 鈥渂ecause I鈥檝e already passed on my way here two polling locations that are in my neighborhood. But I come all the way down here, and it just didn鈥檛 make sense how they choose them.鈥�
Elections boards manage voting at the county level across Ohio, and they cut the map into precincts of about 1,400 registered voters each. The Franklin County Board of Elections determines local boundaries for all 863 of them and then tracks down about 360 polling locations鈥攐r about one polling location for every two and a half precincts.
People have been voting at the Tuttle Community Center for years. Brian Hoyt from Columbus鈥� Recreation and Parks department says it鈥檚 a perfect fit.
鈥淵ou know, we call them community centers for a reason,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e part of the community, and Election Day, you can鈥檛 get more community than that.鈥�
Election officials look for polling locations that are ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible, centrally located and easy to find. It goes without saying, there must be plenty of parking and space inside for voting machines.
Usually that means schools or churches, but sometimes they wind up in some pretty unexpected places - like a car dealership in southwest Columbus.
Two weeks ago, workers dropped off voting machines at Hugh White Honda. Manager Don Smith says if they can get cars through the doors, voters should be a piece of cake.
鈥淲e have been a voting location here at Hugh White Honda since about 鈥�07 I think,鈥� Smith says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 when we did a kind of a letter-writing campaign. I had heard that they were having trouble with ADA- handicap accessible places for people to vote, especially this area.鈥�
But most areas don鈥檛 have businesses volunteering, so elections officials have to go looking for polling locations. That鈥檚 the case in DeHoff鈥檚 neighborhood.
Franklin County elections spokesman Aaron Sellers acknowledges a different polling location, Glen Echo Presbyterian Church, is closer to DeHoff's home than Tuttle.
鈥淭his area is problematic because of its age and there aren鈥檛 a lot of good locations big enough to accommodate all that,鈥� Sellers says.
He explains Glen Echo can only handle two precincts-worth of voters, while Tuttle can handle four.
But with locations scarce, planners are pushed toward some strange decisions. The church sits near the border of DeHoff鈥檚 precinct and the one just south of it, but neither precinct鈥檚 voters actually use it. In fact, voters who live in the precinct where the Tuttle Community Center is located don鈥檛 vote at there, either. They go to Newman Church on Lane Avenue, instead.
DeHoff understands finding locations is hard, but he鈥檚 still a bit mystified at where people are sent on Election Day.
鈥淭here seems like there should be鈥攎aybe see if they can break it up?鈥� he wonders. 鈥淏ecause it is hard to get volunteers to do anything. Like even when they get paid it鈥檚 still hard to get volunteers.鈥�
鈥淪o I don鈥檛鈥攊t just seems like a mess,鈥� he says, frustrated.
Sellers explains everyone shifts southward in DeHoff鈥檚 neighborhood. If he and his neighbors in precinct 18B went to the closest polling location, people living north of him would likely end up with an even longer trip to vote than DeHoff has now.
鈥淵eah, it鈥檚 one of those things that for every action there鈥檚 a reaction, and if [18B] was pulled into that location at Echo, that would take somebody out of the Echo Church and you would have somebody that might be farther away from a location than they currently are,鈥� Sellers says.
Information on where you vote can be found at the website鈥攖hey note some third party sites have been sharing incorrect information.
Early voting ends Monday at 2 p.m., and polls are open Tuesday from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
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