Athens County residents made public comments against recent polling location changes Wednesday at the Board of Elections meeting.
Voters from Lodi, New Marshfield and Waterloo will vote at Alexander High School for the upcoming primary election. Voters from Nelsonville’s first to fourth precincts, Buchtel Village and York Township will vote at the C & J Tax location.
Those changes were made in because of a directive from the Ohio secretary of state, Debbie Quivey, director of the Board of Elections, said. The directive calls for polling places to be consolidated, leading to many areas losing polling locations that are closer to them. Directives are not mandatory, but failing to follow them can lead to a loss of job.
“Whether anybody likes it or not, we work for the Secretary of State,” Quivey said.
The first polling change to be discussed was the consolidation of some polling locations to Alexander High School. Jane Elekes of Waterloo Township said she was disappointed in the change of polling location. The new polling location is farther away for Waterloo residents. There seemed to be no regard for the residents of Waterloo in the decision, Elekes said, and she is against the move.
“You are taking away all of our polling places and moving us to what I consider Albany,” Elekes said.
Elekes and others criticized the board for not making the polling location changes public earlier. She said this discouraged her and others from voicing their dissenting opinions.
“I don’t think people even knew about this until it was put into the paper,” Elekes said.
John Haseley, a board member, lived around Alexander growing up. He said he knows the area well and was shocked at first when he heard the news about the move.
“The commute from Shade all the way to Alexander seems kind of unbelievable to me,” Haseley said.
Haseley said he is trying to be thoughtful about his stance on the polling location change, but it’s too late for any change to be made to polling locations again before the primaries. Ballots have already been made for elections, and there is a deadline for deciding polling locations, Quivey said.
“If we tried to pull back, we could have a disaster on election day,” Haseley said.
The Nelsonville location was also discussed. Multiple residents from Nelsonville voiced their concern over safety at the C & J Tax location, citing an unsafe street with no paved sidewalk.
Lori Crook, of Nelsonville, said Nelsonville is a pedestrian-friendly city but that the change was still unsafe. She also said voting is important to Nelsonville citizens and that no one would prefer to vote absentee rather than in person.
“I’m really floored that every American isn’t outraged, even the board,” Crook said.
The board passed a motion to hold a public conversation about polling locations after the primaries.
