
Photo Courtesy of Karen Kelly
Voters experienced long lines and three hour waits while voting Nov. 3 at Horizon Church.
Following reports of three-hour wait times on Nov. 3, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, in the Birmingham area for TV news appearances, made a stop at Horizon Church in Vestavia Hills.
When he arrived, he found that the line had wrapped around the building.
“I said, ‘We have to make a change in here,’” Merrill said he told the election inspector.
While long lines were common around the country, Merrill said he realized there was a problem at the church, which is located off of Columbiana Road.
Merrill said he worked to move more people into the building and off of the street, and worked to help process more people, estimating about 200 people were able to vote in about 45 minutes. Instead of having only one person in line to show their ID and receive a ballot at a time, Merrill changed the process to have two people in line at the same time, trying to speed up the process.
James Naftel, one of Jefferson County’s probate judges, was also at the church, Merrill said, and stayed after Merrill left to try and help move things along.
Merrill said after he left, he heard from voters that things went back to the way they were done prior to his arrival, with voters moving back outside.
Naftel told the Voice that both he and the election inspector made the decision to allow voters to go back outside after they talked with many of them, who expressed concern about being tightly packed in the church due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Naftel said there was no reason to make them all stand in there.
“Overwhelmingly, people did not want to be packed into that hallway,” Naftel said.
Rebekah Parker voted at Horizon and was part of the group that was moved inside by Merrill. She voted just before voters moved back outside.
Parker said everyone in line was aware it was going to be a long wait and was prepared. She said once Merrill arrived, they began moving inside and realized they were being packed into the hallway outside the voting room.
Parker said her and others around her were more comfortable outside due to COVID-19 concerns, and when she expressed that to Merrill, he responded by telling her she could go outside, which she took as him telling her she could leave without voting. The response, she said, shocked those around her.
Merrill has not returned a call for comment as of Friday afternoon, but this story will be updated if and when he does.
Parker said when she checked in and received her ballot, she expressed concern to Naftel and poll workers, and as other voters did the same, those in line moved back outside and spread out.
Naftel said the reason there were such long waits is because the voting room at Horizon is too small to efficiently move people through. In addition to that, a toilet next to the room backed up and caused flooding early Tuesday.
Later in the day, Naftel said things picked up, decreasing from three hours waits to 90 minutes to two-hour waits.
Naftel said he felt like both the poll workers and Merrill were doing the best they could to move people in and out quickly, and neither deserve any criticism.
“That particular precinct has outgrown that facility,” Naftel said.
Any decision to change voting locations would be made by Naftel’s office. Naftel said his office will examine, along with Barry Stephenson, the chair of the Jefferson County Board of Registrars, possibly moving that voting precinct or splitting it off.
“We’re certainly going to look at whether we can find a bigger facility that can handle it,” Naftel said.
Naftel said no promises could be made in regard to a change, but said there is some time, as the next election is not until 2022.