The Mobile County Commission approved the relocation of 21 polling places for the county’s upcoming elections during its meeting on May 20, 2020. Commissioner Merceria Ludgood said all 21 locations were moved in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with new sites chosen to give poll workers and voters additional space to observe social distancing guidelines on Election Day.
Commission President Jerry Carl said the county needed to make sure voters were aware of the changes well ahead of time. “We want to make sure we mark the polling places that have been moved,” Carl said. “It would be great if we had some large, but not expensive signs when we move the polling place.”
Relocating polling places in the middle of a pandemic presented logistical challenges for county election officials, who had to balance public health guidance with the need to keep voting accessible and familiar to residents. Moving a fifth of the county’s polling locations on relatively short notice meant coordinating new signage, notifying voters and ensuring poll workers were briefed on the new sites before ballots were cast.
The change reflected a broader trend across Alabama and the country in 2020, as local election officials sought larger venues, such as civic centers, churches and school gymnasiums, to replace traditional polling sites too small to allow safe distancing between voters standing in line. Mobile County’s commission acted on the relocations weeks ahead of the elections to give residents time to learn their new voting locations.