By Katie Northcott, News Director
At its meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 24, the Coffee County Election Commission discussed moving some voters from Lakewood Baptist Church to Noah Community Center (NCC).
Four Coffee County residents spoke in support of making the NCC a voting precinct at the previous Election Commission meeting on Dec. 16. Find that story here.
During the February meeting, Administrator of Elections Andy Farrar took time to address the residents’ concerns before recommending against making the NCC a voting precinct. He said his overarching concern about moving voting to the NCC was voter safety.
Since the majority of voters in the precinct are 50 or older, Farrar was concerned that the NCC’s lack of paved parking would be a hazard for voters. The NCC has only one handicapped parking spot, which is on gravel. According to Farrar, the rest of the NCC’s parking is sloped and on grass. This could provide a hazard for elderly voters, especially when it rains.
The NCC does have a ramp to accommodate wheelchair access to the facility. However, the landing between the ramp and the door is not big enough to allow someone to open the door while using a wheelchair on the ramp.
Farrar said that Lakewood Baptist Church provided easier access for elderly voters and had a paved parking lot.
At the December meeting, residents expressed that low voter turnout at the Lakewood Baptist precinct during the August 2024 election might have been due to travel difficulties experienced by voters.
At the February meeting, Farrar said he had worked with the Tennessee Comptroller’s office to determine that the average travel time for voters registered to vote at the Lakewood Baptist precinct was about 9 and a half minutes. Farrar said the Comptroller’s office determined that moving the voting precinct to the NCC would not improve the average travel time.
Farrar theorized that the reason only 8.29% of voters registered to vote at Lakewood Baptist turned out to the August 2024 election was because the ballot was not very competitive. The entire county’s turnout for the August 2024 election was 17.89%. The Lakewood Baptist precinct’s turnout shot up to 68.13% for the November 2024 election.
“Voting [at the NCC] would be fine with a little attention to the details,” Farrar said. “Can voting be moved out there? Yes. Is it time to do it right now? Absolutely not. [We’re] six weeks from early voting.”
The Election Commission voted unanimously for Lakewood Baptist to remain a District 3 voting precinct for the 2026 election cycle. However, the commission instructed Farrar to coordinate with the county commissioners presiding over the area to investigate what work can be done to make the NCC a suitable voting precinct for future elections.
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