El Paso County election officials are finding it difficult to find schools that can be used as polling places for the expected Aug. 10 primary election.

“This is an unusual situation,” elections manager Liz Olson said at a presentation this week before the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners.

Officials from Harrison School District 2 on Tuesday notified the county that their facilities won’t be available on Aug. 10  because it’s the first day of the new school year, and voting in the schools would cause too much confusion.

Colorado Springs School District 11 will have fewer schools available due to school closures and may also require the county to pay for custodial services during the hours the polling places are open, said Elaine Naleski, District 11’s director of communications.

“Elections usually go from 6 a.m. until 9 at night,” said Naleski. “If we have no custodial staff available, they will have to pay for someone to be there.”

Olson said she understands the predicament both school districts face. She emphasized the lack of availability applies only to the primary election, if one is needed, and not the general election.  

Twenty-six schools in District 2 and 40 schools in District 11 have been used as polling places. As a result of the conflicts and school closures, the county would have 21 fewer polling places for the primary election, Olson said. About 3,000 people cast their ballots during the 2008 primaries at polling places in District 2 and District 11.

As a result of a new state law, counties for the first time this year have the option of conducting a mail-in ballot election for primaries. The commissioners voted in January to have traditional polling places, as well as early voting and mail-in ballots.

The county is looking for other polling places. Olson said the situation could create confusion because voters in the affected districts would have to be notified by mail of any new locations and notified again if the location changes for the general election.—Call the writer at 476-4825.

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