Voting Location Reconsidered Due to Parking Woes
East Bridgewater Select Board heard issues related to parking for Saturday's annual Town Election
EAST BRIDGEWATER, MA - May 20 - Significant parking challenges during the recent town election in East Bridgewater have prompted discussions about potentially moving the voting location for future elections.
At the Select Board meeting on May 20th, newly elected Town Clerk Katie Julius raised concerns about the lack of available parking at the current voting location - the East Bridgewater Junior/Senior High School. Julius stated that many voters and election staff had difficulty finding spots, with most spaces already taken even an hour before polls opened.
"I was told that by people that were voting that they were not finding parking, period," Julius told the board. She added that her office received numerous complaints about the parking situation.
The town had previously used the middle school as the polling location but switched to the high school in recent years. Julius proposed moving next year's annual town election back to the middle school, noting that space is already reserved there on the anticipated election date.
Select Board member David Sheedy acknowledged that while changing locations for a single election could be confusing for voters, "It's untenable to do, to expect people to go through what they went through on Saturday again."
The board voted unanimously to send a letter to the school district requesting they make the middle school available for only the town election day. If the district cannot accommodate that request, moving the polling place to the middle school permanently would be considered.
"We can ask them that, is there a chance they could change the date? Every time it was, they could say it can't be done, they've already paid it, something like that. But I think it's our responsibility to do something about the problem," Sheedy stated.
Parking was not the only issue discussed at the meeting that could impact voter turnout and experience. The board also approved several measures, including:
Authorizing the Kiwanis Club to place lawn signs and use the DPW electronic sign from October 2nd to November 2nd to advertise their "Field of Flags" veteran's display on the town common
Allowing a local photography company to use the town common on November 16th and 17th for family Christmas photos
Having the county mosquito control come out ahead of the Dale and the Duds concert on the town common on June 13th to help deter bugs
Efforts to improve access and make voting as smooth as possible for East Bridgewater residents are clearly top of mind for the Select Board as they navigate solutions to the parking woes. Residents will be watching closely to see if the middle school emerges as the new polling location beginning next year.