A failing roof at the old National Guard Armory means some local voters will have a different venue when they cast their ballots during next Tuesday’s mid-term election.

Dallas County Probate Judge Kim Ballard said he was alerted to the roof issues at the aging structure a week ago. After seeing the building in person, he agreed the leaders of the Selma Lions Club, who own the property, that it was best to relocate the polling place.

“I went over there with one of our maintenance men, we looked it over, and we decided to put the polling place elsewhere,” Ballard said. “We have actually decided to relocate the polling place to another building on the property.”

The polling site is host to both city and county voting boxes, making it the largest polling place in the county. Ballard said 2,300 voters would be affected by the move.

The structure where the polling place will now be located is a metal building at the rear of the property. It is where the local Lions Club holds weekly meetings throughout the year.

Central Alabama Fair director, and Lions Club member, John Haskell said he has no doubts the second building would be able to host voters Tuesday.

“It’s smaller than the armory, but I know they’ve got some polling places smaller than that,” Haskell said. “It’ll get the job done.”

Ballard said signage would be placed near the entrances to the Lions Club property and around the building where voting will now take place.

He said this is first time he has had to relocate a polling place this close to an election, but the proximity of the new location should take some of the stress off him and his staff.

“Being able to have the polling place in basically the same location will make it a little less stressful,” Ballard said. “I’m trying to notify everybody I can, and that is a monumental job.”