Churches hesitant to serve as polling places following Supervisor of Elections lawsuit against Gateway Christian Center

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Kim Barton filed a lawsuit against a church that served as a polling place, several area churches are asking for additional liability protection before agreeing to serve as a polling place in the future.

The lawsuit requests damages in excess of $50,000 for injuries suffered by Barton when she tripped and fell on stairs at the church while delivering voting materials. 

Pete Rivera, the CFO of North Gainesville Baptist Church, sent a letter to Supervisor of Elections Kim Barton on May 15, noting that churches have willingly provided their facilities for many years, but the lawsuit “brings to light a liability exposure.” The letter requests three things:

• Physical inspection prior to each use of the facility, with a signed inspection report;
• Signed lease agreement accepting the facility in its present state, with Alachua County’s liability insurance extended to the church;
• A Hold Harmless agreement as part of the lease agreement.

The letter from Rivera “serves as notice that North Gainesville Baptist Church is no longer available as a Polling Location, unless the above requests have been met.”

On the same date, Barton sent out a letter to the church, thanking them for their support and their role as a community partner. The letter stated, “To alleviate any liability concerns you may have, all activities associated with administering elections at a polling place during an election, including the Early Voting period and on Election Day, are covered by Alachua County’s insurance.”

Rivera told us that one other church has also decided against serving as a polling place unless the Supervisor provides liability insurance, and at least three more are considering making that decision. Barton told the Alachua County Commission on March 22, 2022, that she was having trouble finding polling places: “I hope people will hear this and know that we’re in need of polling places. Maybe they can reach out to me if they have some ideas.”

Rivera told us that some counties use lease agreements, so we obtained Clay County’s lease agreement for polling places. The agreement states that the Supervisor of Elections office “will accept the condition of the premises in its present state unless otherwise noted” and extends Clay County’s general liability insurance to “cover all liability for negligence attributable to Lessee arising out of the use and occupancy of the premises under this Agreement.” Clay County also provides a stipend of $100 to each polling location “to cover any preparatory or cleaning expenses.”

Barton sent Alachua Chronicle the following statement: “My office works closely with our polling place partners and appreciates their commitment to serving their community. As we have done in the past, my office, in conjunction with Alachua County’s legal department, is working on entering into license agreements with entities that are interested in serving as polling places. We are currently developing the language for those agreements.”

Since Barton indicated her office has used these agreements in the past, we asked Barton about the 2022 election and received the following response: “The last polling place license agreement my office used was in 2022. In conjunction with the Alachua County Legal Department, we are currently working on the 2024 version of the polling place license agreement.”

However, Rivera said North Gainesville Baptist Church had no formal agreement with Alachua County or the Supervisor of Elections office. “It was all verbal,” he said. 

The Supervisor of Elections has not responded to our follow-up questions asking whether there was a written agreement with Gateway Christian Center and requesting a copy of the agreement used in 2022.