Mike Backer, chairman of the Callaway County Central Democratic Committee, said Friday he has organized a bipartisan public meeting on Aug. 23 of voters in the Carrington area to discuss continuation of the Round Prairie Voting Precinct at Carrington.
Callaway County Clerk Denise Hubbard said Aug. 3 she would consider the possible return of voting at Carrington in the November election.
Hubbard said after she had combined the Carrington and Guthrie precincts at Guthrie for the primary election, she was told the Carrington Baptist Church is now handicapped accessible.
Backer said Hubbard has agreed to attend the public meeting at 7 p.m. on Aug. 23 at the Carrington Baptist Church.
Hubbard said the previous voting locations at Carrington and Guthrie were not handicapped accessible and that caused her to find a new location for voting in Guthrie and combine the two precincts because the new site in Guthrie was large enough to accommodate both precincts.
But since that time Hubbard said she has received a letter from representatives of the Carrington Baptist Church saying the church is now accessible to handicapped voters.
Backer said several years ago voting had been at the Carrington Baptist Church but former Democratic Callaway County Clerk Linda Love switched the voting from the Carrington Baptist Church to another location in Carrington because at that time the church was not accessible to handicapped people.
"Since that time," Backer said, "the Carrington Baptist Church has built a new building that has a flat entrance to a parking lot. Voting could occur there and it now is fully accessible to handicapped people."
Backer said last Monday he and Dean Powell, Callaway County Republican Central Committee chairman, met with Hubbard to discuss voting at Carrington.
"This is not a Democratic or a Republican issue. It's more of a voting rights issue. Voters should have a convenient place to vote," Backer said.