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Date: 8/10/2021
AMHERST – On Aug. 2, the Amherst Town Council met to discuss several topics, including this year’s upcoming elections.
“The major thing we need to discuss tonight is twofold, the issue of polling locations and the issue of establishing dates for early voting,” said Council President Lynn Griesemer.
The council had discussed election plans with the town clerk at a previous meeting, but a new law that passed has put the topic back on the table. “There’s been a law passed through the Legislature and signed by the governor that extends the kinds of voting we saw in 2020,” began Griesemer. “It allows for early voting for local elections and also allows for mail-in ballots for local elections.”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, local and presidential elections saw a large increase in mail-in ballots.
Town Clerk Susan Audette joined the meeting to give updates on both polling locations and early voting.
Polling Locations
Audette advocated for polling precincts 2, 4 and 10 to relocate to the Amherst-Pelham Regional High School due to the issues they had with their previous locations.
Precinct 10 was on the ground floor of the Bangs Community Center. “It’s in a very small room and is only accessible by stairs or an elevator,” she began. “The location does present a few challenges, one of which is that all polling locations are required to be ADA compliant.” If the elevator were to fail, the location would no longer be in compliance. Audette also voiced concerns about the stairs and that they were difficult to navigate.
Audette also believed this location wouldn’t meet the required number of voting booths due to its size.
“It’s based on the number of registered voters,” she explained. “The law states there should be one marking shelf or one voting booth for every 75 voters and I’m not confident that we’d meet that law because of the lack of space.”
She then began discussing the Precinct 4 location, which had been moved to the high school but was originally located in the Bangs Community Center as well. Precinct 4 was co-located with Precinct 5. The relocation of Precinct 4 proved itself beneficial in de-densifying the Community Center, she said. Having the polling location at the high school also offered more parking for voters.
Finally, she discussed Precinct 2, which was one of the most problematic locations.
“Our original polling space was in the fire station’s kitchen, but this is really too small a space for what was needed in the number of voting booths,” said Audette. With the polling space in the kitchen, it prevented firefighters from using the space. It was then moved to the garage bay, but that also presented issues in that the vehicles had to be moved outside and a temporary door had to be installed. There’s also no temperature control in the garage bay and the area smelled like oil.
With the Amherst population growing, she said it was time for the Town Council to consider new spaces that could be utilized to house polling stations, but also consider keeping the three locations within the high school.
Early Voting
Currently, Amherst allows vote by mail, no excuses voting, absentee voting, which does require eligibility, and election day voting. Audette, however, wanted to promote early in-person voting that would take place at the Amherst Town Hall. Early voting would occur from Oct. 25 to Oct. 29. It would be open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“We’ve had it in the town hall before and people are familiar with the space,” said Audette. She also mentioned the Town Hall voting allowed for better control over the voting process and for keeping a better eye on things.
Councilor Alisa Brewer questioned why there were no weekend and evening voting sessions, to which Audette responded, “It’s because we have mail-in ballots. In the past, when we held sessions on weekends and evenings, it was because mail-in ballots weren’t a thing.”
Councilor Mandi Joe Hanneke also questioned the lack of weekend and evening sessions. “While I can understand why we may not need it, I’m hesitant to, if we can offer it, not offer it. If we can, we should offer at least one evening and one weekend session,” she said. Hanneke came to the defense of those who may work during business hours or those who have issues finding child care.
Griesemer stated she would talk to the town manager and the town clerk to discuss if it is feasible to have evening and weekend sessions.
Griesemer made a motion to relocate Precinct 2, 4 and 10 to Amherst-Pelham Regional High School. Her motion was seconded by George Ryan. They then took a vote with 11 in favor, two absent and no one opposed.
The vote on the matter of early voting will take place at the Aug. 23 meeting.