BUSHNELL, Fla. – A new supervisor of elections office is coming to Sumter County. Officials broke ground on the new facility this week in Bushnell.
Currently, there are two elections office locations in Sumter County: the main office in Wildwood, and an annex in Bushnell on East Anderson Avenue.
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This new building, under construction on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue in Bushnell, will replace the old annex building when it opens.
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The new facility doubles the square footage of the annex in Bushnell to 26,773 square feet, with office and warehouse space. The new building will also allow the office to store all voting equipment under one roof, rather than in exterior storage containers.
The supervisor of elections, Bill Keen, says the population growth requires the bigger facility. According to the U.S. Census, Sumter County’s population grew to 129,752 people in 2020, up from 93,420 in 2010.
Much of that growth is centered around The Villages, the planned community for retirees that now encompasses parts of Lake, Marion and Sumter counties. The U.S. Census says it counted 79,077 residents in The Villages in 2020, up from 51,442 in 2010.
According to Keen’s office, the county had 123,387 active registered voters as of April 4.
Keen says the county is expected to grow to as many as 60 polling precincts by 2032, doubling from the current 30 districts.
The office will also need another 500 election workers to help staff those polling precincts.
The $7.4 million facility is expected to open in 2025.
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