Ahead of the U.S. general election, the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections (SOE) has announced 13 polling location changes since the 2022 general election. 

All but three of the new polling places were already used for the 2024 primary election in August. 

The three brand-new polling places are the following: 

• Precinct 51: Gainesville Church of God was moved to Faith Presbyterian Church  

• Precinct 60: First United Methodist Church was moved to Douglass Center at Catherine Taylor Park  

• Precinct 63: CSI Academy of Florida was moved to the Turkey Creek Clubhouse 

Supervisor of Elections Kim Barton said her office sent out the full list of changes since the 2022 General Election because many residents have not voted since then.

Precinct 60’s change has caused some stir in High Springs as Mayor Katherine Weitz wrote an email to the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) on Sept. 20 to ask about the appropriateness of a polling location change with only 49 days left before the election. 

The church is located just outside Precinct 60, on the wrong side of US Highway 441, and the new polling location is less than two miles away inside the appropriate precinct. 

Weitz, whose seat is up for election, wrote that her concern was not with the new polling location inside the right precinct, but that there was not enough prior notice, and that the new location does not have enough ingress/egress to suit the need. 

Barton responded the same day, noting that Florida statute allows the SOE to designate a polling place in a contiguous precinct if the precinct itself has no acceptable polling place, and that “after outreach from voters to our office,” the SOE heard from the High Springs City Clerk that the Douglass Center would be available for the 2024 General Election. 

Weitz followed up with a public records request that showed only one voter outreach, from former High Springs Commissioner Ross Ambrose, who asked the SOE about exploring the Douglass Center as a polling place for Precinct 60 in March and June, pointing out that the polling place was in the wrong precinct. 

After determining that the newly constructed Douglass Center met polling place requirements, was inside the precinct boundary and had enough parking, the SOE made the swap and began notifying voters.  

The SOE office has sent out notice and new voter registration cards, emailed all Precinct 60 voters who have an email on file, and worked with the city clerk to add notice of the change to residents’ utility bill inserts and plans to put up signage closer to the start of voting, according to Aaron Klein, SOE’s director of communications. The office has also scheduled advertisements of the polling place changes in the Gainesville Sun and Alachua County Today and posted it on the SOE website. 

Klein noted that Florida law requires polling places to be designated no less than 30 days before an election. 

“Our office comfortably met that timeline…. Our office makes it a priority to ensure that our polling places are accessible and convenient to voters,” Klein wrote in an email to Mainstreet last week.  

The polling location changes since 2022 also include a change from the Gateway Christian Church to the North Central Florida YMCA. 

In March of 2023, Barton filed a lawsuit against the Gateway Christian Center, claiming the church’s negligence had caused her broken kneecap and arm after she fell there while delivering election materials in October 2022. 

According to TV20, a church had expressed its concern over liability as a polling location after Barton filed her lawsuit, and the SOE has said Alachua County will cover liability for polling locations during election and early voting days. 

Six of the polling place changes since the last general election are moves from churches to other locations, but notably another three are moves from one church to another church. 

The full list of precinct changes since the 2022 General Election is as follows: 

The following precincts are combined for the 2024 General, Gainesville and High Springs Election: 

Residents can find their assigned precinct on their Voter Information Card or the SOE’s Precinct Finder web service. 

The Supervisor of Elections Office recommends all voters check with their city or on the SOE website. 

The voter registration deadline is Oct. 7. Click here to register.

Early voting, which will be open Oct. 21 through Nov. 3, will be available at the following locations: 

• Supervisor of Elections Office, 515 N Main St., Gainesville 

• Millhopper Branch Library, 3145 NW 43rd St., Gainesville 

• J. Wayne Reitz Union, 655 Reitz Union Dr., Gainesville 

• Tower Road Branch Library, 3020 SW 75th St., Gainesville 

• Alachua County Agriculture and Equestrian Center, 23100 W Newberry Rd, Newberry 

• Legacy Park Multipurpose Center, 15400 Peggy Rd., Alachua 

• Hawthorne Community Center, 6700 SE 221st St., Hawthorne 

• Santa Fe College NW Campus S-029, 3000 NW 83rd St., Gainesville 

Editor’s note: This story was updated with information from Kim Barton.