07 Aug Gathering Place as Polling Place
Gathering Place to Open as Polling Place on November 3
Fearrington Village and Galloway Ridge voters who choose to cast their ballots in person on Tuesday, Nov. 3, will be able to do so at the Gathering Place. As always on election days, the Gathering Place, which is the polling place for Precinct 78, also known as West Williams, will be open from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m.
Poll workers will be fully outfitted in personal protective equipment, and plexiglass shields will be in place between poll workers and voters. Voters will use disposable pens to mark their ballots, and voting stations will be wiped down with sanitizer between voters. The Gathering Place will be professionally cleaned and sanitized after the polling place closes at no cost to Fearrington FHA.
Voters will be asked to wear a mask and observe social distancing designations inside and outside of the building. Once voters enter through the main door, a new one-way traffic pattern will direct them through the voting process before they leave the building through an emergency exit to the right of the kitchen.
As usual, curbside voting will be available, but will be moved to the kitchen end of the Gathering Place so that there are additional parking spaces and poll workers can access and assist curbside voters without interrupting social distancing.
Voters who wish to vote before Nov. 3 have two options: One-stop, in-person voting at one of six early voting locations or by mail-in absentee ballot.
Early voting starts Oct. 15 and the closest location to Fearrington Village is at the Central Carolina Community College’s Health Sciences Campus, fronting 15-501 between Andrews Store Road and Jack Bennett Road. Alternatively, the second closest early voting site is the Bold Building, 41050 Moring Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27517.
The same safety precautions for Nov. 3 will be practiced at early voting. Updates to come on the exact dates and hours for early voting.
To vote by absentee ballot, voters must request an absentee ballot as instructed at this website: https://www.chathamnc.org/government/departments-programs/board-of-elections/absentee-voting. The one-page form must be signed and can be returned by US Mail or electronically. Full instructions are available on the website.
As needed, additional updates for in-person voting at the Gathering Place will be included in the October issue of the newsletter. Special thanks to the Fearrington Village FHA leadership and the Chatham County Board of Elections staff for their commitment to make the Gathering Place available as a safe and convenience polling place for West Williams voters.