Flood relocates Eagle Lake voting precinct
Published 5:19 pm Tuesday, June 25, 2019
- Erma Ross holds Ryan, 7 months, as she votes in last year’s runoff election between eventual winner U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Mike Espy at the Vicksburg City Auditorium. (Courtland Wells | The Vicksburg Post)
Flooding in the Eagle Lake community has forced the Warren County Board of Supervisors to temporarily relocate the Brunswick voting district from the Eagle Lake Volunteer Fire Department to Redwood United Methodist Church, 101 Redwood Road.
According to information from the Warren County Circuit Clerk’s Office, the temporary precinct will be used for the Aug. 6 primary elections and possibly the Aug. 27 runoff.
The Brunswick precinct is a large precinct, Warren County Election Commission chairman Sara Dionne said, adding, “We’re trying to keep it (the polling place) close to the original area. It’s a safe place that’s close enough to the affected area.”
She said postcards are being sent to every registered voter in the precinct about the change. County officials are also taking out advertisements notifying the voters of the change.
She said the church is not within the precinct lines.
“The precinct is the geographic lines in which voters live. We’re not changing the precinct. What we’ve done is temporarily moved the polling place; it’s an emergency polling place,” Dionne said.
According to the Circuit Clerk’s Office, any voter displaced by backwater flooding or Mississippi River flooding can vote absentee at the clerk’s office, on the second floor of the Warren County Courthouse.
To vote absentee, voters must inform the office that they are displaced by the flooding, and must bring a photo ID.
Absentee voting begins Monday and closes at noon on Aug. 3.
Anyone with questions about voting or the relocation of the Brunswick precinct can call the Circuit Clerk’s Office at 601-636-3961 or the Warren County Election Commission Office at 601-638-8875.