TULSA, Okla. — This year, early voting runs from June 11 through June 13, but there will not be a north Tulsa polling place.
The Tulsa County Elections Board has moved its headquarters to east Skelly drive, shutting down its old polling place on Denver Avenue.
In a statement sent out by the Tulsa County Board of Elections, it was confirmed that the two early voting polling places this year will be at the new election board headquarters at 12000 East Skelly Drive in Tulsa and Tulsa Technology Center in Broken Arrow.
State Senator Regina Goodwin (District 11) invited leaders and community members to speak out at the North Peoria Church of Christ.
Goodwin said she tried to prevent this from happening by directly speaking with the Tulsa County Board of Elections.
"We provided two options for the Tulsa County Election Board, one was this church here, the pastor was very gracious in saying this facility could be utilized, and also the Tulsa County Library," she said. "We have elections coming up in June, August, and November. Our voices on the north side matter in all of those elections, and we should provide access."
Pastor Warren Blakney of the North Peoria Church of Christ confirmed that he would willingly open his church as a polling place for free, especially since he has done it in the past.
“We were a voting precinct for about five years, so we know the process, we got personnel ready to do that," he said. "We are again poised and ready to be of assistance to the community, not just to our seniors, but to everyone and anyone.”
Alicia Andrews, the chair of the DNC Women’s Caucus echoed the sentiment.
She said ballot access is very important to her.
“We know that folks vote all over Tulsa, and now we're pushing them where more people are having to drive," she said. "Quite frankly, with Oklahoma being number 50 in voter participation, the more barriers we put up for participation, it doesn't help our numbers, it doesn't help encourage voting.”
Retired teacher, Jo Glenn, said she used to help her high school students get registered to vote and understand the importance of voting.
She said while she wants her east side neighbors to be able to vote efficiently, it shouldn't come at the cost of the north side neighbors not having a polling place.
"We've sacrificed voting for the north side so we have voting in the east side," she said. "It shouldn't be that difficult. It's a right. Everybody should be able to do it, and it should be done fairly, and that's all we're asking for."
She said voting is crucial for everyone to take part in.
“They have a right to be heard, and this is the best way to get heard," she said. "If they don't take advantage of that, then they're going to be diminished, and their lives are going to be diminished.”
She also said it's especially important to her that young people start to practice civic duties, because laws will start affecting them more.
Still, she says moving polling places around, especially making them farther, takes makes it harder for them.
"Issues are affecting kids more and more, I mean school board- that election affects them more than any election we have," she said. "If we're going to be going to war, that affects our young people more than me. I don't think I'm going to be drafted, so I'm pretty sure that it affects them more. They have a right to be heard, and this is the best way to get heard."
2 News reached out to the Tulsa County Board of Elections, and they replied with this statement below:
Reading, in part, “the process and criteria for selecting these sights is lengthy and must be given thoughtful consideration and planning in order to provide a safe and overall positive experience for our voters.”
It continued on to read that it has "never allowed politics to play a role in that decision making, nor will we be pressured by politics to open a site that does not meet the criteria for safe and secure elections."
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