It was good news to learn that Circuit Judge E. P. Simpkins Jr. had entered the order splitting Ashland magisterial district into two voting precincts. This will be a great load taken from the small crew of overworked poll workers who usually labor until the wee hours of the next morning counting votes after an election.
As the order reads, voters within the corporate limits of the town of Ashland will continue to vote at the municipal building, while all others outside the town will vote at Patrick Henry High School. This will mean a bit of travel for some people who have been used to voting in the town, and some will undoubtedly be inconvenienced; but looking at the growing problem broadly, the split in the district is in the interests of voting efficiency.
Through the years, Ashland has almost always been the last precinct to report its returns, any many’s the time when weary Herald-Progress staff has had to ‘turn in’ before the votes were counted, only to be awakened in the night by a loyal if weary precinct judge calling in the final tally. Maybe now everybody will get a good night’s sleep.
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