By Robert Medley
Managing Editor
The tornado sirens nearby, unlike the previous morning, were silent as the cars lined Ashford Drive at Grace Communion Church.
A funnel cloud had passed overhead just to the south of Surrey Hills about 25 hours before the polls opened at the church Tuesday for the 2024 general election. A presidential race was to be decided. A congresswoman would be elected. And a state representative. State questions were on the ballots. But no tornado sirens were heard outside.
Another tornado warning on election day would be tough for parents in the morning trying to get children on buses or drop them off before voting. Piedmont parents had children at home Monday when school was called off due the 6:11 a.m. tornado warning that was issued by the National Weather Service. Skies were mostly cloudy Tuesday. Rain stopped, though.
Dark skies cleared Tuesday morning, and sunshine appeared near the coffee van in the parking lot. The white cross shone over the top of the church. Heather and Michael Lathrop arrived to vote at 7:36 a.m.
“We got our ballots handed to us at 8:11 a.m.,” Heather Lathrop said. It took about 35 minutes for them to cast their ballots. At 8:21 a.m., they waited for coffee outside of the polling center, the biggest polling location in Canadian County.
The line inside wound in zigzagging, double-back directions in the lobby and in the main room where the voting took place inside the church. Precinct 200 officials were busy with the line of people as voting continued to pick up during the morning.
Adam Hosseini of Surrey Hills said his voting experience in-person on the day of the election was a good one.
“They did a great job running that thing in there. They did a great job, it was not chaotic, it was streamlined, they had it down to a T. There were about 400 people there when he voted, he said.
Security was a top concern with law enforcement in the county for the election. Canadian County Undersheriff Kevin Ward said. Law officers trained and prepared for the day well ahead of Nov. 5, Ward said. The sheriff’s office usually receives a number of complaints about campaign signs that are too close to polling places. But there were no complaints by mid-morning Tuesday. Signs in bar ditches in eastern parts of the county had been seen in high water Monday. High winds were also in the area and heavy rain the day before the general election.
Piedmont and Okarche area residents who live in Canadian County can vote at these locations:
Precinct 502 – St. John’s Lutheran Parish Hall, 521 N Colorado – Okarche.
Precinct 504 – Piedmont United Methodist Church, 2525 N Piedmont Rd., Piedmont.
Precinct 506 – Piedmont First Baptist Church, 15 Jackson Ave. NW – Piedmont.
Precinct 507 – The Bridge Assembly of God Church-Piedmont, 4050 Edmond Rd. NE – Piedmont.
Precinct 200 – Grace Communion Church, 12201 Ashford Dr. – Surrey Hills.
Read The Piedmont-Surrey Gazette and follow piedmontnewsonline.com for live coverage of election results.
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