WESTBROOK — City Clerk Angela Holmes has a proposal before the City Council to make the voting process in the city a little easier and less confusing for voters and ward workers.
Holmes wants to reconfigure voting at the Westbrook Community Center (Wards 1 and 4) and the Westbrook Armory (Wards 2 and 3) so there is a just one voting area at each polling place instead of each being separated into wards, as has been the case.
“Logistically it would work better to have one check-in line,” she said.
The change would have to be adopted by the council at second reading May 6 before it takes effect for the general election in November.
The Secretary of State’s office is supportive of Holmes’ plan, said Kristen Muszynski, the office’s communications director.
“We did work with her optimizing the voting place layout for the most efficient flow of voters,” Muszynski said.
One check-in line for voters, Holmes said, would reduce mistakes made when voters are checked in.
It is not uncommon for voters to accidentally get in the wrong ward line or for the lines to overlap when it gets busy. Holmes wrote to councilors that, in some cases, voters have “checked into the wrong line or have even hopped over guardrails enclosures to get to a shorter line to the ballot box, causing ballots to be cast in the wrong ward.”
Increased signage and hiring extra election workers have been tried, but the issues persist, she said
“I’ve been involved in elections for 15 years and every time there is an election, folks are confused at where to vote and how to vote. The clerk’s plan really helps to streamline that,” Councilor Mike Foley said.
Holmes said because her proposal combines the ward check-in areas, results for races such as mayor, at-large city councilor and school board member, as well as state and federal representatives, will be not tabulated by ward anymore.
“Though interesting, this level of detail is not legally required and the consolidation would have no effect in these races,” Holmes wrote to councilors.
Holmes told the American Journal she is hopeful “this small tweak will really improve the quality of the election process here.”
Reconfiguring two of the city’s three polling locations is not the only change Holmes is looking to make to the election process in Westbrook.
The committee of the whole met last week to review a request by Holmes to place a referendum question on the November ballot asking voters whether they want to make warden and ward clerk positions appointed rather than elected.
The Committee of the Whole passed the item on to the City Council, which will review it May 6. If the change is made, wardens and ward clerks would be appointed for a year rather than elected to a three-year term.
“These are really administrative positions hired to do a specific job and shouldn’t be subjected to the political process,” Holmes said.
Wardens and ward clerks are tasked with registering voters, distributing ballots, assisting voters and tallying results.
Reducing the term and eliminating the need for wardens and ward clerks to run for election could attract a greater pool of applicants, Holmes said.
Since November 2016, 90 percent of the wardens have not sought re-election, she said.
The current group of wardens and ward clerks support the change, Holmes said.
The city charter would have to be amended to reflect the change, but Holmes said City Solicitor Natalie Burns has determined a charter commission would not be needed to do so.
The question, however, would need to be voted on by at least 2,584 voters (30 percent of those who voted in the last gubernatorial election).
If passed, the change would go into effect after the terms of the elections workers that will be elected in November run out on Jan. 1, 2023.
Michael Kelley can be reached at 780-9106 or mkelley@keepmecurrent.com or on Twitter @mkelleynews
If a proposed change is approved, voters at the Westbrook Armory won’t have to wait in ward-specfic lines to get their ballots.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
