The Select Board has voted to reduce the number of polling places to vote in town from 14 precinct locations to 4 more centrally positioned polling locations. This was done at a Select Board meeting without a hearing or any input from the citizens of Plymouth. (Manomet Elementary School will no longer be a polling location due to this action).
To better illustrate what this means, the Town of Plymouth has an area of 104 square miles, and a population of close to 70,000 residents, with 50,000 registered voters, making it the largest town in Massachusetts both in area and population. This action saved the town approximately $9,000 (18 cents per voter per election), but it will cost approximately $35,000 for equipment and notifying the public.
Other municipalities in Massachusetts with similar population size include Weymouth, which has 10 voting locations, Peabody with 7, and Chicopee with 13. However, none of these places have an area even a quarter the size of Plymouth.
Although the Select Board has already voted this in, their decision can be changed by having one of the three Select Board members who voted for it to make a motion of reconsideration, and if only one Select Board member changes his vote, they can then hold an open hearing to explain their decision to the people of Plymouth, and ask for voter input before making a final vote.
I strongly suggest you contact the Select Board members and request they reconsider this vote and hold a public hearing prior to a final vote.
– William Arienti
Select Board should reconsider vote to reduce number of polling places
