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For decades, the Garland Community Church of God has served as the polling place for Park County residents in or around Garland, Deaver and Frannie. But with the church building now up for sale, …
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For decades, the Garland Community Church of God has served as the polling place for Park County residents in or around Garland, Deaver and Frannie. But with the church building now up for sale, those voters will likely need to join the rest of Powell area voters in casting their ballots at the Park County Fairgrounds.
The Park County Clerk’s Office searched for an alternate polling spot, but the church building — which previously served as a schoolhouse and a clubhouse — is one of the only community facilities in the Garland area.
“There’s no other place,” First Deputy County Clerk Hans Odde said last week.
When they set polling places last month, county commissioners voted to again use the church building for both the Aug. 20 primary and Nov. 5 general election. But the situation changed in late April, when the members of the Garland Community Church of God decided to purchase the former First United Methodist Church building and move into Powell.
The church’s pastor, Shane Legler, notified elections staff on April 30 that the building in Garland was being listed for sale and “the county will need to have an alternate location picked for a polling station.”
“I know that makes it inconvenient since our site was already cleared,” Legler wrote in an email to Odde, “but this move wasn't a possibility when you all first sent out the confirmations.”
The only obvious alternative polling location is the city-owned Powell Golf Club, which is about 1.5 miles northwest of the church. However, Odde said the club’s main dining area — which would be the most logical spot for voting — isn’t ADA accessible while the bar could conflict with state law, which prohibits anyone from using or possessing alcoholic beverages in a polling place. Further, Odde said he’s been unable to reach club leaders to see if they’re interested in working with the county.
As a result, the clerk’s office intends to ask county commissioners to move the Garland/Frannie area’s polling place to Heart Mountain Hall at the fairgrounds. The change — which will be presented to the board on June 4 — would impact about 350 registered voters.
The Garland church is the smallest of the nine polling sites that the county operates; roughly 240 people cast their ballots at the church during the Nov. 8, 2022 general election.
