Lee County offers ‘pop-up’ voting opportunities

LEESBURG — Some would decry the fact that Elections offices in the state are having to find new ways to make voting more “convenient” for a constituency that oftentimes finds more reasons not to vote than to cast their ballots, but that’s the reality of the 2020s American democracy.

Lee County Elections Supervisor Veronica Johnson announced Monday that her office will provide “pop-up” voting opportunities starting Tuesday that she says she hopes will add to already enthusiastic early voting in the county.

“We encourage our voters to take advantage of early voting, and providing these additional locations will give them more opportunities to do so,” Johnson said. “It is convenient for a lot of voters, especially those who work, to have the opportunity to vote in their communities rather than driving all the way into Leesburg to the Elections office.”

Lee voters can cast their ballots at the Elections office in the 100 Starksville Ave. North Governmental Building Monday-Friday through Nov. 4 from 8:15 a.m.-5 p.m. and from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29,

But the county also is providing voting opportunities at the Bindery at Oakland Library at 445 Oakland Parkway West this Tuesday-Thursday from 2-7 p.m. and at Redbone Fire Station No. 5 at 1286 Graves Springs Road on Nov. 1 from 2-7 p.m.

“We tried this in 2020, and we’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from voters,” Johnson said. “In four days at the Oakland Library in 2020, 960 people voted. And in the one day at Redbone, we had 570 early votes. People definitely took advantage of the opportunity.”

Johnson said 2,243 voters cast ballots in the first week of this election’s early voting. That’s a dramatic increase from the 949 who voted early during the 2018 midterms.

“That’s still short of the more than 3,000 who voted early in the first week of 2020, but, of course, that was a presidential election,” she said. “I’d like to see us move toward the 2020 numbers, and these pop-up locations could help us do that.

“We planned the time of the pop-ups so that it can make it convenient for the voters who have to pick up their kids from school and for the people who’ll have an opportunity to vote after they get off work. Of course, I’m one of those people who thinks voters should vote in every election, but we do want to do everything we can to make it easier for people to vote.”

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