Shelby County restructuring voting precincts and polling locations

Some of the voting precinct boundary lines and voting center designations around Shelby County will soon be seeing changes. 

The Shelby County Commission voted to approve this change to make the election process more convenient for voters and to facilitate the administration of the election process during the Jan. 10 meeting. 

“What we are proposing is going from 43 districts to 37, merging some together,” said County Manager Chad Scroggins. “Most of these district changes are because in the last presidential election, we had conflicts, traffic closures, issues that would come from different areas based on access to the buildings, handicap access, traffic issues. Some of them have been going on for years in other elections, so it’s the time to address some of those right now.” 

Here are the designations for voters in the 280 Living coverage area: 

• Precinct 7: Chelsea Church of God 2020 Highway 39, Chelsea, 35043
• Precinct 8: North Shelby Baptist Church 4100 Belcher Drive, Birmingham, 35242
• Precinct 9: Asbury United Methodist Church 6690 Cahaba Valley Road, Birmingham 35242 
• Precinct 10: Shelby County Services Building US 280 19220 Highway 280, Birmingham, 35242
• Precinct 11: Shoal Creek Town Hall 100 New Williamsburg Road, Birmingham, 35242
• Precinct 12: Greystone Farms Clubhouse 1000 Farmhouse Road, Birmingham, 35242
• Precinct 13: Founders Clubhouse - Greystone Golf & Country Club 4100 Greystone Drive, Birmingham, 35242
• Precinct 14: The Church at Brook Hills 3145 Brook Highland Parkway, Birmingham, 35242
• Precinct 15: MeadowBrook Baptist Church 4984 MeadowBrook Road, Birmingham, 35242
• Precinct 16: New Hope Cumberland Presbyterian Church 5521 Double Oak Lane, Birmingham, 35242 
• Precinct 17: First Christian Church 4954 Valleydale Road, Birmingham, 35242 
• Precinct 18: Valleydale Baptist Church 2324 Valleydale Road, Birmingham, 35244 
• Precinct 28: Chelsea Community Center 11101 Chelsea Road, Chelsea, 35043 
• Precinct 29: Faith Presbyterian Church 4601 Valleydale Road, Birmingham, 35242
•  Precinct 33: Christ Church United Methodist 5091 Caldwell Mill Road, Birmingham, 35244 

Only absentee voting will take place at the Shelby County Courthouse in Columbiana. 

Commissioner Lindsey Allison said the biggest issues are voting security and helping those who are elderly or disabled.

“I know that was a huge issue in the last election. What ended up happening is the county had to provide golf carts and additional resources, so we're trying to find a way for them to vote in a very comfortable way,” she said.

Sheriff John Samaniego said his department has already upped their security within the polling places and by reducing the number of them, gives him more manpower to cover them as well as having floats that can float between them. 

“We will be able to put the same amount of manpower in place and get a lot better coverage and security, as well as bringing the necessary things back to the courthouse at the end of the voting day,” Samaniego said. “ I think this is. a big plus for Shelby County.” 

Scroggins added that he would love to have ten megasites for voting throughout the county, but there are not enough facilities in the county to do something of that nature. 

Anyone who is affected by the changes will receive a notification in the mail, whether their precinct location number changes, or the facility itself has a name change. 

During the meeting, the commission also approved:

• The Rebuild Alabama Annual Report for FY 2020-21. The project included 10.29 miles of  resurfacing work on CR-47 at a cost of $2,440,482.35.
• An ALDOT contract for a resurfacing project on I-65 from the Chilton County line to the north end of the bridge over CR-23 and CSX railroad.
• A transfer application for a retail beer and wine license off premises only for Casper Quick Mart located at 49700 CR-25, Sterrett). Scroggins warned the owner that the county has received many complaints about the location, including people consuming on the premises and reminded him that if this happens, sheriff’s deputies will show up at your location. 

The commission will have a work session before their next meeting on Jan. 24 to discuss the survey results for the Shelby County Comprehensive Plan, one of many they will do over the next year.