LEWISTON — City Clerk Kathy Montejo said she’s worried that shifts made to the city’s ward boundaries this summer could cause confusion at the polls Tuesday.
“We don’t want voters to be upset or feel disenfranchised on Tuesday when they go stand in line at the place where they’ve voted for 10 years, only to be told that their name is not on the list,” Montejo said. “They’ll discover that the ward lines moved. Their house didn’t change, they didn’t move. The city just moved their ward lines.”
Montejo suggested voters double check their polling place at the Maine Secretary of State’s website. They can call her office as well at 207-513-3124.
“There were changes in every ward,” Montejo said. “Some changes were more significant than others.”
The new wards are based on the 2010 census and state legislative and county district boundaries adopted in Augusta last summer. Once the census is complete, states, counties and municipalities have four years to balance their voting districts to make sure they are roughly equal.
Montejo said the new boundaries, adopted by the city last spring, change as few of them as possible so the new map doesn’t create confusion.
“The state changed their lines, then the county changed theirs and we wanted to make ours as close to those as possible,” Montejo said. “The new boundaries became effective last June, two days after the June primaries. So this is the first election people have seen these new wards.”
According to state guidelines, each ward can have about 5,228 residents, based on the 2010 census.
Montejo said 3,200 of Lewiston’s 24,000 registered voters will be effected. The city sent out postcards to those residents last month.
“Hopefully they saved those postcards and put them on their refrigerator,” Montejo said. “But the concern is that could have just gotten mixed up amongst the junk mail. Some folks may not have noticed it or paid much attention.”
Twin Cities Polling Places
Nov. 4, 2014
Lewiston
Ward 1: Lewiston Memorial Armory, 65 Central Ave.
Ward 2: Montello School, 407 East Ave.
Ward 3: Lewiston Memorial Armory, 65 Central Ave.
Ward 4: Longley Elementary School (formerly Multi-Purpose Center), 145 Birch St.
Ward 5: Longley Elementary School (formerly Multi-Purpose Center), 145 Birch St.
Ward 6: The Green Ladle/Lewiston Regional Technical Center/Lewiston High School Campus, 156 East Ave.
Ward 7: Longley Elementary School (formerly Multi-Purpose Center), 145 Birch St.
Auburn
Ward 1: Washburn School, 35 Lake Auburn Ave.
Ward 2: Auburn Middle School, 38 Falcon Drive
Ward 3: Auburn Hall, 60 Court St.
Ward 4: Fairview School, 397 Minot Ave.
Ward 5: Sherwood Heights School, 32 Sherwood Drive
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