District 68 State Representative Dusty Hightower late last week re-submitted a bill that was first proposed by another representative and even-passed by the house back in 2004.
 
The bill would benefit the Fairfield Plantation community locally, in making sure their voting precinct is legal in the eyes of the state.
 
“This bill has to do with a promise I made for my constituents in the Fairfield community,” Hightower said Friday. “What it does is allow you to have a voting precinct within the boundaries of a gated community, with a special-provision that if the precinct is inside the gated community, they have to leave their gates open for 24-hours prior to the election and 24-hours after the election… so, the gated community is open to everyone in the public during the voting time.”
 
Hightower says an identical bill was proposed by Representative Lynn Smith and passed by the House close to ten years ago but never made it to the Senate floor for a vote.
 
“The Fairfield precinct was in danger of closing because it did not fall in line with state law,” Hightower said. “The boundary lines appeared to be the boundary lines of the gated community—which were property lines. And according to state law, the precinct is not in compliance (because the lines were not a natural boundary). This law fixes that problem.”
 
Hightower last week was appointed as Secretary of the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee.