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Austin residents wishing to vote in person during the August primary and November general election will not report to their usual polling location this year.

The Austin City Council unanimously approved the consolidation of all Austin polling locations into one location at the Holiday Inn Austin Conference Center for the 2020 election during its regular meeting Monday evening.

The decision was made after the Legislature recently changed election laws to remove schools and nursing homes as polling locations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This change resulted in four regular polling locations in Austin ineligible.

The council”s decision was also based on concerns about the availability of election judges. According to Austin City Clerk Ann Kasel, only 25 percent of her regular election judges are willing to work due to the pandemic. Consolidation, she said, would help alleviate the need for judges.

While the State will encourage voters to vote absentee, Kasel said the Holiday Inn Conference Center will provide adequate space to maintain social distancing. Kasel added that hand sanitizer and masks will be provided to election judges and plexiglass barriers have been ordered with funds appropriated by the Legislature for that purpose.