Braintree Town Council Delays Vote On Poll Location Reduction
BRAINTREE, MA — The Town Council delayed until next month to decide whether to permanently consolidate Braintree's 12 polling locations into three voting centers.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the town temporarily consolidated the town's 12 precincts into three voting centers, each serving voters for four precincts. Under the plan, voters in Districts 1 and 2 voted at Braintree High School, District 3 and 4 at the East Middle School and District 5 and 6 residents at South Middle School. In past elections, every precinct had its own independent voting location except for precincts 5A and 1A, which both voted at Town Hall.
Town Clerk Jim Casey proposed making the change permanent because he said there's not going to be as much demand for in-person voting in future elections because of early voting. But Town Council President Shannon Hume said at Tuesday's meeting that Casey asked for the vote to be delayed, so he could give the council more information about the plan.
In a memo to the town council, Casey wrote reducing the voting centers permanently would reduce election costs and increase the supervision of election workers,
"With the success of the voter centers during the COVID-19 pandemic and the continuing decline of Election Day voter turnout driven by multiple early voting options, I am requesting council support for establishing a permanent change to voting centers in lieu of individual voting centers," Casey wrote.
Casey's plan saw support from some town councilors who said the consolidated voting centers worked well for the 2020 election, but others said they were worried about the distance to the polls, a lack of public transportation and how this change might affect those with disabilities.
The council is seeking comment from residents regarding the proposed plan.
There are no scheduled town elections until Nov. 2, but Casey said he needs a decision by May 15 to make preparations.
This article originally appeared on the Braintree Patch
