Pulse at the polls: confusion about polling locations, engaged voters

Workers at several polling locations throughout the city on Tuesday said voter turnout was low, even for a primary, and many voters were showing up at the wrong polling locations.

Summit County previously had 420 precincts. It now has 371, with the board of elections adopting the new precinct boundary maps in December. According to the board of elections, precincts were realigned due to multiple city ward and County Council boundary changes for the 2023 and 2024 elections. More people are also voting absentee in recent elections.

But since Tuesday’s primary election wasn’t a countywide election, not every precinct was be voting, and not every polling location was open.

More: Early voters discuss top candidates for Akron mayor: Malik, Mosley, Sommerville

Familiar faces not at polls

At the Firestone Park Community Center, voting location manager Adrianne Nelson said she and her volunteer crew, who have been working election days together for years, noticed many familiar faces from previous elections hadn’t yet shown up to vote by 2 p.m. when 138 ballots had been cast.

Nelson wondered if people voted early or were scared away by the rain. They also had several regular voters whose polling location might have changed to the Firestone Park Presbyterian Church next door.

Thirty-one-year-old Deonna Swezey said she didn't see 138 voters as worrisome, but "a cause for celebration."

"I expected less people. The fact that there are less people is good," said Swezey, adding she believes a lot of people don't understand civics and she was still learning herself.

Swezey, who voted for current Ward 8 City Councilman Shammas Malik for mayor, said she looked up the candidates’ statements about public safety and their positions on the “Jayland Walker situation and it soured me on a lot of candidates.” Swezey said she liked that Malik recognized the “excessiveness of the whole thing,” referring to the shooting death of a 25-year-old man by police last summer after a car and foot chase.

Criticism by some that Malik is “too young” goes both says, said Swezey.

“When it comes to saying someone is too young, what about the flip side? How many times have we had candidates in politics for decades and how many times do people say, ‘Wow, nothing has changed?’ Well, if that’s the case, why are we afraid of young people?” Swezey said.

Swezey, who is Black, said while she thinks it would be “really great” to have Akron’s first mayor of color, depending upon who wins, “I hope people don’t just look at that − and that sounds terrible, but what I mean by that is always look at what they are saying. Sometimes you say, oh, this person looks like me and they are part of my community, and that’s not always the case. You should always look to see what they actually support.”

Ian Ferguson, 19, forgot it was election day until he saw an Instagram post by City Council at-large candidate Fran Wilson encouraging people to go to the polls.

Tuesday was Ferguson’s second election.

“I’d like to see more participation amongst young people,” he said.

Ferguson voted for Malik, saying “he seemed like the best candidate to vote for,” but Ferguson said he was actually more focused on the council at-large races.

“Fran Wilson is the person I voted for,” said Ferguson. “They are a very, very progressive person, and in the city in general, even though it is very widely Democratic, it hasn’t necessarily been as progressive as I’d like to see, and hopefully people like Fran can start changing that,” he said.

Ferguson said he voted for two at-large candidates, though he could have cast a ballot for three. He could not recall the second person he voted for, but said it was a woman.

Some Summit County polling places have changed

At the Arlington Church of God in Ward 5 at lunchtime, only a trickle of people were coming in to vote. A poll worker said it had been pretty slow because it was a primary.

In a 40-minute time period, a reporter saw nearly as many people turned away for being at the wrong polling location as people who cast their ballots — about four.

Shyleen Connalley and Devon Woods, both 25, were turned away and told that their polling location had changed. The couple said they walked over from their house and had voted at the church in the last election, but needed to go to Joy Park.

Connalley said they always vote and feel it is their responsibility.

Woods said, “With the Jayland Walker stuff, whoever comes next will probably be under a bigger microscope.”

The couple was voting for Tara Mosley for mayor, Connalley said.

“We feel she’s the underdog in the race, and I feel good about her,” she said.

Malvin Sommerville, a relative of mayoral candidate Marco Sommerville, said he is a dedicated voter who was exercising his right to vote.

“I think he’s been doing a good job as deputy mayor and he has experience, and I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do given the opportunity to be mayor,” said Sommerville.

James Williams, 72, voted for mayoral candidate Malik because he wanted “a change in government.”

“I want somebody new instead of the old guard,” he said.

Voting is a civic duty, resident says

The steady morning rain didn't deter Kevin Burkholder from voting.

"It matters," he said after walking out of the Kenmore Branch of the Akron-Summit County Public Library in Akron's Ward 9.

Burkholder has called Akron home since settling here in 2000 after meeting his wife at Malone University.

The issues that drove him to the polls to were not unlike those of other Akron voters − public safety, the economic health of the city and educational opportunities for its children − and the mayor's race will have shaped that.

While he didn't want to say which of the mayoral candidates he voted for, Burkholder did say he believes this race comes down to whether voters wanted to keep the "old guard" or usher in a new era.

"You have to vote," he said.

Low voter turnout at some polling places so far

At the Ellet Community Learning Center in Ward 6, a poll worker said turnout has been bad, even for a primary. At 1 p.m., 177 votes had been cast and the gymnasium was empty of voters. Two people walked in shortly after.

Brenda Shepherd, 65, drove her 97-year-old mother, Betty Post, to the polls. The women said they always voted, but were disappointed that an important race for the next mayor would be decided from low turnout.

“Primaries never draw out the people, and people don’t realize, I believe, that this is what counts,” said Shepherd, referring to local elections instead of larger congressional and presidential elections.

"Unfortunately I hope that people get out because this is a big one − because whoever gets it, there’s no Republican” to compete against in November.

The women both voted for Mosley.

“I want to see a woman, but I will tell you it came down to Malik and her. I really would like to see some women get in and especially a woman of color,” said Shepherd, who is white.

“I’m 97 and I’m getting up there and in my lifetime, I want to see a woman mayor,” Post said.

Education is a key issue

Like most voters, Maya Fenty has a key issue or two that drives who she ultimately votes for.

Fenty, who became a U.S. citizen just two years ago, said she researched all the Democratic candidates for Akron mayor before heading to the polls on election day.

What she didn't expect when she arrived at her precinct at the Northwest Family Recreation Center in Akron was to find one of the candidates in the parking lot greeting voters.

Fenty said it was the perfect opportunity to chat with Malik, who is also her ward councilman, abut his views on universal preschool for all.

As a mother of a 4-month-old and a 4-year-old, Fenty said, she knows the importance of a strong educational foundation and the financial strain preschool can place on families.

"I wanted to hear whether it was just words or did he really have a plan," she said.

Beacon Journal staff reporter Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com. Reporter Craig Webb can be reached at cwebb@thebeaconjournal.com.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Poll workers see location confusion and low turnout on election day