The Collin County Observer™

Frisco homeowner association seeks to centralize city, county and school balloting

Sunday, January 3, 2010
By WENDY HUNDLEY / The Dallas Morning News

When Dudley Wilson wants to exercise his right to vote, he'd better make sure his car isn't running low on gas.

To vote in the May school board election, the Frisco resident drove to an elementary school in The Colony. Then he headed to a Frisco fire station to cast a ballot in the City Council election. Finally, he went to a local retirement community to have his say in the justice of the peace precinct alcohol referendum.

"We call it legalized voter disenfranchisement," Wilson said of the multiple polling places that he and his neighbors in western Frisco must travel to at election time.

That's because they live in three voting jurisdictions – Frisco, Denton County and the Lewisville school district – and each has its own polling place.

Wilson and his neighbors would like to simplify their election day by establishing a single polling location for elections.

They pleaded their case this month to the Lewisville school board, one of three entities that must approve their request.

Wilson, president of the Heritage Lakes homeowner association, offered the clubhouse in his gated community as a polling site for future elections.

School board secretary Cherry Carter said the clubhouse must be accessible to disabled voters and would have to be open to the public during voting hours to meet the election requirements.

Wilson said the clubhouse meets these requirements, and its use has been approved by the association's board.

The school board may vote on the measure in March when it's time to call the next election, district spokeswoman Karen Permetti said.

But Wilson and his neighbors may get a quicker response from Frisco.

City Council member Pat Fallon attended the school board meeting to speak in support of the group's request. He said the item is on the agenda for Tuesday's council meeting.

He told the Lewisville school board that "5,000 voters are being disenfranchised by having to vote in various locations."

The Denton County Elections Administration declined to comment on the group's request.

read the rest of the article at The Dallas Morning News....