BREAKING: Polling to stay at heritage

Although the Liberty University Vines Center is now home to an array of food venues, it seems that the arena will not be home to voters as a polling place during the upcoming November election.

While students enjoyed their summer break this past June, the Lynchburg registrar officially approved the Liberty Vines Center as a polling place. However, that was only one of many hoops that the proposal must jump through, according to David Corry, who is General Counsel for Liberty University.

When precinct lines are moved or changed, the proposal must first be approved by the registrar and then recommended by the Electoral Board to the City Council. The Council will then make a motion to either approve or discard the proposal — a process which usually can be accomplished in a matter of weeks.

However, because the particular proposal regarding Liberty was placed within a group of proposals concerning the possible redistricting of the area, the process will not be as quick and easy as it was initially perceived, Corry said.

“City Council instructed staff to conduct hearings earlier this year,” Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. said. “We learned today that the process is not moving as fast as Council had instructed. It is possible that staff delayed the hearings schedule so that the decision on whether or not Liberty would have its own polling place in Vines would be made after this November’s election. ”

Currently, the redistricting proposal, which includes the precinct changes at Liberty, is being presented in public hearings to allow the voters in the districts involved to voice their opinions on the matters at hand.

“The public meetings are held to explain to Wards two and three the proposed changes,” Lynchburg City Attorney Mr. Walter C. Erwin III said. “Ward three currently has too many voters, while Ward two not enough. In addition, the proposal to create a new precinct for LU students on campus will be addressed.”

The agenda for the public meetings include the impact of the 2010 census, the city’s redistricting and the precinct changes, Director of Communications and Marketing for the City of Lynchburg JoAnn Martin said.

The meetings will be held Oct. 6 at Bass Elementary, Oct. 13 at Bedford Hills and Oct. 20 at the Lynchburg Public Library. All meetings will begin at 7p.m.

The deadline for the public hearings by City Council is Nov. 22. The proposal will then adopt the official changes by Dec. 13 and then be sent to the Justice Department. Erwin anticipates the changes to be in effect by the Nov. 2012 elections.

“(Students would) benefit (from attending the meetings) in that they would be a part of the process. Students are constituents,” Corry said. “Not that the changes proposed are controversial, but it is important to be involved.”

The elections this November are also critical for student voters, Falwell said.

“If there is a poor turnout of Liberty students voting locally this Fall, those who would rather Liberty students not vote locally will likely argue that not enough students turned out to vote to justify a polling place on campus,” Falwell said. “This is why it is so important for Liberty students to register to vote in Lynchburg and go to the polls in November. The city funding for the new pedestrian bridge across Wards Road is a direct result of the fact that Liberty students registered locally and voted in big numbers in recent elections. Our students cannot back down now. Liberty is so close to having its own polling place on campus.”

The proposed changes are not anticipated to be controversial because the current polling location for Liberty students is not conducive to the amount of voters wishing to participate, Corry said.

“There was, in voting at Heritage, a certain rhythm, a pattern, developed over the years,” Corry said. “When Liberty students registered in great numbers, those voters dramatically increased. The increased numbers at that location made it tougher on older folks.”

Having a polling place on a college campus is not something that Virginia has delayed granting in the past, Falwell said.

“The University of Virginia and other large universities have polling places on campus,” Falwell said. “ It is only fair that Liberty students be given the same measure of respect.”

For the elections this November, students who wish to vote will still be required to commute to Heritage Elementary.