Polling locations change

NEW MADRID - New Madrid County voters should check the location of their polling place before heading out to cast their ballot in Tuesday's presidential primary. At least five polling places have moved to a new location in the county.

County Clerk Clement Cravens said the change was required for the county to meet federal Americans With Disabilities Act to make the precincts handicap accessible. Voters in the five precincts - Como 5, LaFont 3, Lewis 5, New Madrid 4 and New Madrid 5 - should receive letters from the county clerk's office notifying them of the changes and the new polling locations.

The voters in Como 5 will now cast their ballots at the Parma Community Building, 209 S. Broad St. in Parma, rather than the David Barton Gin office in Catron while those voters in LaFont 3 will go to the Marston City Hall, 913 E. Elm St rather than the Masonic Building in Conran. For Lewis 5, the polling place was relocated to the Lilbourn Veterans of Foreign Wars Building, 301 S. Fourth St. in Lilbourn from the Men in Unity Hall at North Lilbourn.

The New Madrid 4 and the New Madrid 5 voters will go to the Daniel Kimes Building, located at the intersection of Highway 61 and Route P at Kewanee. Previously, New Madrid 4's votes went to The Village Market building at Kewanee while the New Madrid 5 polling place was at the Fire Station in LaForge.

"When we realized we could no longer utilize the former polling places due to non-compliance, we began looking for the best place - geographically while maintaining a place within their township," said Cravens, about the new locations.

He emphasized while the polling places are being consolidated with others, the precincts will not be consolidated. Each precinct at the locations will have their own table of election judges set up for voters to report to for their ballots.

"And I'm not saying there may not be a day when we return to a community," Cravens added.

Polling places for Tuesday's election open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.