Just 90 days away from the presidential election this November, the City of Sanford is moving forward with a proposal to reduce the city’s three polling locations to a single location at a high school gym for all future elections.
Proponents of the change believe that the consolidation will make it easier and cheaper to staff and provide police presence at the singular polling place. Critics say the move will cause confusion and make it harder to vote in-person on election day.
The Sanford City Council held a public hearing and a vote on the proposed consolidation at a meeting this Tuesday, in advance of an Aug. 7 deadline to inform the Maine Secretary of State of any changes to voting places or consolidation of wards.
The proposal to consolidate the polling locations was first introducted by Sanford City Clerk Susan Cote to the city’s Property Subcommittee last August.
The location of Sanford High School’s gym, the Veteran’s Memorial Gymnasium, and the city clerk’s application for the ward consolidation and change of voting places was approved by Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows in October.
The matter was tabled after a public hearing in early November of last year due to concerns from the public that the move was happening too fast and without adequate consideration.
A subsequent City Council workshop regarding the polling location consolidation was held on Nov. 21, 2023, to discuss the matter in further detail.
Following issues raised at the Nov. 21 workshop, the possibility of using the middle school instead of the high school as a single voting location, as well as using both schools for a two voting location option were discussed.
Sanford High School was decided upon by the city as the most practical option for a number of reasons, including its approval by the Secretary of State, it being city-owned, ADA compliant, and large enough to fit the required number of voting booths.
After it was decided that the high school gym was the most viable option as a single voting location, the city had to consider three options for closing schools for election day.
Those options were for state legislation to close all schools statewide for election day, the York County government closing all schools in the county for election day and the Sanford Superintendent working with the district’s sending schools to close all their high schools on election day.
According to city officials, the school boards were reluctant to close middle schools and elementary schools for election day due to the age of the students necessitating parents find supervision for their children.
The sending school boards did agree, however, to close their high schools for election day, because many of their districts also use their high schools as polling locations.
Purported benefits of the consolidation, according to a presentation from Sanford Mayor Becky Brink, include no confusion for the public on where to vote, the high school’s accessibility, the ability for the city clerk to be on site at one location for the entirety of election day and lower costs for police presence at the single location.
According to Sanford Police Chief Craig Anderson, having officers cover just one polling location compared to staffing three locations would lower costs by 50 percent.
Several Sanford and Springvale residents speaking at Tuesday’s public hearing requested that the City Council postpone the decision until after this November’s presidential election, citing concerns over voter turnout and potential election interference.
“I think it’s a great idea in the future if we want to do this,” said Sanford resident Gordon Frohloff. “But during this presidential election year I think we should just leave the voting the way it’s been.”
“Residents are used to going to their polling locations. In my opinion, changing the location and consolidating will add massive confusion to the whole mix here in Sanford,” Frohloff said.
Janette Williams, a Springvale resident of over forty years, expressed the concern that a single polling location would create long lines of people waiting hours to cast their votes.
Another resident, who said she previously served as the city’s warden for Springvale Ward No. 1, indicated that while she previously thought that consolidation to a single polling location would be convenient, she has concerns over introducing the change for a presidential election.
“My concern is that I’ve done several presidential election, and it’s been a mad house,” she said.
“I say go for it, but not for the presidential election,” she added. “I say hold off ’till you have a smaller election.”
Sanford Republican State Rep. Ann Fredericks told the City Council that with the presidential election so close, it’s the “wrong time to make this change.”
“The outcome of this plan is uncertain, the logistics unproven, the plan could present a deterrent to vote,” Rep. Fredericks said.
[RELATED: Republicans Write Letter Opposing the Consolidation of Sanford’s Polling Locations…]
State Rep. Anne-Marie Mastraccio, a Sanford Democrat, took the opposite position in support of the proposed consolidation.
“Lack of poll workers, an increasing need for security and a city clerk who has to run from location to location is not the best use of available resources, and is, I believe, tax money better spend elsewhere,” Rep. Mastraccio said.
Mastraccio praised the “flexibility” of early and absentee voting procedures brought in during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying it is “easier and just as safe a process as voting in person.”
Ron Russell, who is running as the Republican candidate for Maine’s first Congressional district in attempt to unseat Rep. Chellie Pingree (D), attempted to speak at the public hearing, but was prevented from doing so.
“This is only for Sanford citizens,” Sanford Mayor Becky Brink told Russell, who indicated that he is from Kennebunkport.
“Well I’ll tell you why I have standing here, I am running to be the representative for the good citizens of congressional district number one for the United State Congress,” Russel said.
“That’s okay — you still don’t have a say in this,” Mayor Brink replied. “This is only for — this is a hearing for Sanford Springvale citizens.”
“You are going to be disenfranchising the voters in Sanford, and voters that could potentially vote for me,” Russell shot back.
“I know, but that is the rule of how the public hearings go in Sanford,” Brink said.
Jim Deyermond, former chair of the Sanford Republican Committee, said at the public hearing that the city did not involve representatives from either major political parties in consideration of the polling location change.
“The city did not ask for any inputs, suggestions, opinions or any other thoughts or ideas about this change with the organizations representing the majority of the voters in Sanford and Springvale — why?” Deyermond said.
“Moving all voting to the Sanford High School will result in many people simply not voting in November,” he added, stressing the impact the change would have on seniors and low-income voters who may not have transportation to the polling location on election day.
Sanford’s current warden for Ward No. 1, Ed Cormier, attempted to ease the public’s concerns that the move to consolidate the polling locations is political, or would create an inefficient voting process on election day.
“I don’t know where the rumors of all the malfeasance is coming from, it’s just weird to me,” Cormier said, claiming that the “folks that run the elections” are evenly split among Republicans and Democrats.
“We’ve run this without issue,” he said. “We’re in the trenches, we do this three times a year, twice a year — we put together a good plan with Sue [Cote].”
Cormier suggested that residents with concerns over long lines at a single polling location should submit absentee ballots.
“We are going to do our best to make this the best election that we’ve had yet,” Cormier said.
Following the public hearing, the City Council voted 5-2 in favor of passing the polling location consolidation, making the Sanford High School gym the city’s sole voting site for this November’s election and all subsequent elections.
And so the fuckery begins, sooner that I thought.
To use the Democrats mantra this is voter suppression. Make it more difficult for voters especially Republicans who tend to vote on election day vs Democrats who vote more through mail in. This takes away convenience for the public in order to make life a little easier for the Town paid employees.
Is town government subservient to the people? We the people are becoming more and more subservient to the government.
A.B.S.E.N.T.E.E. Ballots …….ever heard of these ?
A lot of states have them available .
I guess Sanford doesn’t ? . ?
Spend less on voting. Spend more on housing new Mainers .
Its the way life should be .
I support those who supported the US on 9/11.
I DO NOT support those who attacked the US on 9/11.
I did e mail the Mayor and all council members requesting they do not change voting places for the Presidential Election with less than 90 days to election day. Apparently they are concerned about saving a few dollars, perhaps a good start would be looking at the school budget. How about keeping students in school on Presidential Election Day and teaching some good US History.