Polling place changes

[ilai]

For this upcoming elections on November 4, the city of Somerville is changing the locations of polling places for a bunch of different precincts, so make sure you double-check where you vote before you go to the polls:

Ward 1-2: The East Somerville Community School, Glen Street Entrance
Ward 1-3: (same as above)
Ward 3-2: The Atrium, Somerville High School, 81 Highland Avenue
Ward 4-2: A Room in the Winter Hill Community School, 115 Sycamore Street
Ward 6-2: A Room in the Somerville Community Baptist Church, 31 College Avenue
Ward 7-2: A Room in the West Somerville Neighborhood School, Raymond Avenue Entrance

Source: http://www.somervillema.gov/alerts/important-polling-place-changes

If you don't know which precinct you're in, you can look it up at http://www.wheredoivotema.com/bal/MyElectionInfo.aspx ; note that the polling stations on that site haven't been updated yet, but the precinct info should be correct.

Comments

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Do we know why?

[ilai]

I don't know what the official rationale is, but having been a poll worker in 7-2 for a few years, I can say that a new space would help tremendously with some of the problems we've been having. We used to occupy one half of the Teele Square fire station, in which there was barely space for people to line up at the checkout table. With fire engines and alarms going throughout the day, it can be pretty drafty and hard to hear. I can imagine that similar reasoning went into moving 1-3 and 4-2 out of the fire station near Foss Park.

[courtney (from livejournal.com)]

I'm glad the Elections Department is looking to improve (and increase) the space given to those who exercise their right to vote, but as a former teacher and candidate, I'd like to see voting removed from schools completely. I know it leaves very few options, but I would prefer to eliminate this disruption to students and teachers.

[ron_newman]

Why? When kids see adults voting, it's part of their civic education.

[nomacmac.livejournal.com]

They do not have classes on bigger election days. They call it as a professional development day. In November, we have two Tuesdays in a row without school (Election Day and Veterans Day) Fun for the kids, not so fun for working parents.

At the Brown School, during smaller elections, the kindergarten class can't use their classroom. They need to relocate to the room that is already shared by the art & music teachers. It disrupts the schedule for those specialists, and is very disruptive to the kindergarteners and their teacher. The Brown is located in Ward 6, but is used as a Ward 5 polling place (Josephine Ave is the ward border).

[gruene.livejournal.com]

Better, bigger, spaces for voting.

[ron_newman]

I'm surprised that the city would change so many polling places (6 out of 21) on such short notice, between a primary and a general election. This is asking for massive voter confusion!

[gruene.livejournal.com]

I'm speaking for myself and not in any official capacity.

This is a response to overcrowding. The city can add more people on the sign-in / sign-out books, but only if there's space in the polling places for extra booths. This reshuffle has been in the works since the 2012 election, where many Somerville voters waited for hours. I agree that there will be confusion, but it should be beneficial in the long run.