Dodge City Mayor addresses national news

DODGE CITY, KAN. — Dodge City mayor, Kent Smoll sent out a statement from his office regarding the election location office being relocated. The news of the election office in Dodge City moving outside of city limits has caused a lot of controversy for the city of nearly 27,000 individuals. In fact, the story of the office moving has made national news.

The city has just one polling location and it had been located at the Civic Center since 2002. The Ford County Clerk’s office announced recently that that would no longer be the place to vote come November’s election. The new place to vote is the Western State Bank EXPO Center located at 11333 Highway 283.

The main concern for many people is that the move of the polling place will be the cause for less people voting. The city of Dodge City is made up of nearly 60 percent Hispanics and some do not own a vehicle or have access to get to the nearest polling site.

According to Mayor Smoll, the City of Dodge City Public Transportation will be offering free rides to and from the polling location on Election Day to those that call and schedule a pickup. The transportation service will take them from their home to the EXPO Center.

“We continued to receive inquiries and statements implying that our community voters are being suppressed,” Smoll said. “It is not our place to agree or disagree, however, we feel it is necessary to share the facts and what we are doing to assist our citizens.”

The cause of the move from the Civic Center to the EXPO Center is due to construction taking place near the Civic Center, which is located along Central Ave. near Memorial Stadium.

The Southwest Kansas Gubernatorial Debate will take place on Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m. inside of Clifford Hope Auditorium in Garden City. This event will give citizens from southwest Kansas a chance to hear from the five candidates that will be running for Governor in the upcoming November election. The Clifford Hope Auditorium is located at 1412 N Main St in Garden City. The event is free to the public and anyone is invited to attend.

ELECTION DAY INFO

WHEN? Tuesday, Nov. 6th

WHERE? Your local polling place

TIME? Most polls are open 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.

MORE INFO? voteks.org