Published in the June 21, 2018 edition.
WAKEFIELD — On Tuesday, voters will head to the polls to decide the fate of improvements to the town’s Public Safety Building. They will not, however, cast ballots at their old neighborhood polling places.
The Special Election on June 26, a single question affair, will be held in the cafeteria of the Galvin Middle School from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
This is considered a warm-up to the state party primary and general elections coming in September and November. There invariably will be kinks to work out, and next week’s Special Election represents the first chance to see what they are, and how to fix them.
In February, the Town Council unanimously backed a proposal by Town Clerk Betsy Sheeran to go to centralized voting, something that is done in many communities across the Commonwealth. At the time, Sheeran told councilors that voting in one location’s “day has come” in Wakefield.
During voting next week, each of the town’s seven precincts will be separate and the process will remain the same as it has always been in the past. Registered voters will remain in their assigned precincts. There will be no consolidation of individual precincts.
Sheeran explained earlier this year that “Centralizing the precincts will be more efficient and will eliminate the confusion that has occurred in the past when a new resident was unfamiliar with the location of the precinct that has been assigned to them.
She continued that the Galvin presents several benefits to voters: its central location, a location well-known to all residents, the fact that it is on a bus route (unlike old polling places the Crystal Community Club and the West Side Social Club), and “finally, the (Galvin) building is ‘owned’ by each and every person in this community who pays real estate taxes. Those families with children who attend the Galvin Middle School are familiar with the building. Those taxpayers who attend Town Meeting are also familiar with the building. This is a chance for taxpayers who are unable to attend Town Meeting or those who do not have children in the Galvin Middle School to ‘visit’ thye building.”
Sheeran explained earlier this year that the $75 million school — considered the jewel among Wakefield’s educational facilities — complies with the American with Disabilities Act and parking, in Sheeran’s opinion, “will not be an issue. In order to avoid any confusion, a police officer will be assigned to the parking lot and signage will be posted” all over the school campus.
