Board of Elections plans to close 9 polling locations

NORWALK — The Huron County Board of Elections is set to close some polling locations in the county. The board recently notified county townships nine of the current 22 polling locations will be consolidated. The reasoning is to comply with federal ADA requirements, to ensure an adequate number of qualified and reliable poll workers for each election and save county taxpayers between $85,000 to $100,000 over the next four years. Election equipment will also be getting upgraded to make the voting experience faster and easier for Huron County. The affected townships are Clarksfield, Fitchville, Greenfield, Hartland, Lyme, Norwich, Sherman and Greenwich Township and village. There will be all multi-precinct voting locations. Board director Cecilia Blevins said the proposal is good for voters, taxpayers and is aligned with the mission to provide efficient, professional voting and to maintain public confidence in elections. Some leaders in affected townships, however, do not agree. John Hoffman, a Fitchville Township trustee, said this change could impact voting turnout. "Right now, (voters) only have a mile to drive," he said. "Now, they would have to go four or five miles to New London to vote." Last year, the township hall upgraded its sidewalks and doors to become ADA compliant to keep the polling location, Hoffman said. "We put all that money in last year for all get these upgrades done," he said. "We spent a little of $8,000 so the polling place was happy with it, now we're shutting it down." Blevins said as certain polling locations are township halls, they're still open, voting will just not occur there. "Upgrades they did, they should have been done anyway. Their township folks should be able to get in there and should be ADA compliant, regardless of whether there's voting or not," she said. "That's not why we're closing them, we're just not using them for local voting anymore." Blevins said the board is purchasing new voting equipment and there are ADA components that could be very costly if all 22 locations remain open. Doyle Stevens, a Hartland Township trustee, said by closing locations, "you're taking the ease of voting away from our constituents." He said those who live on the outskirts of the township will have to travel further to vote now. "They're trying to encourage people to vote early and go to the county seat in Norwalk. We've got a history of voting on Election Day in Hartland Township and we'd like to keep it that way," Stevens said. "If they close this polling location and combine others, they're going to have lines to vote." He said he expects there will be a lower percentage of voters in Huron County if these locations close. "A working person is going to have more trouble getting there," he said. "If it's not a top priority, they'll just forget it." Blevins said keeping all the locations open would be very costly and smaller polling locations are being closed all around the state. The board will meet at 8 a.m. on Monday at the Huron County Administrative Building, in Meeting Room A. If you wish to attend, park in the back parking lot and use entrance C.