New town board agrees to permit county elections board to move voting here to Aaron Maddox Hall

by Dan McClelland

The new Town of Tupper Lake town board agreed in a split vote last week to permit the Franklin County Board of Elections to move its single polling place here from the former Holy Ghost Academy to the town-owned Aaron Maddox Hall.

Republican Elections Commissioner Tracy Sparks was at Thursday's meeting to make a case for the move.

In recent years all of Tupper Lake's voters have voted in the same place- the former parochial school on Marion Ave.

“We've been using HGA for a long time. It's been an awesome place and Terry Doolen (as caretaker) has been amazing,” Mrs. Sparks began that evening.

“We were paying a small fee” for the use of the premises on primary and election days “which was fine.” She said her county agency was willing to continue using the place at that rate of rent.

She said in December, after the county budget was already approved, the fee was doubled by church leaders to $200.

“That's not a lot for the board of elections to pay,” she admitted.

She said her office is currently working on a new consolidation plan for voting districts in the county. Recent state election law changes now allow for 2,000 voters for every election district. That new formula means that Tupper Lake's five election districts can be reduced to three, she explained to the town leaders that evening.

Going forward will be one full-town district and two village election districts.

A number of years ago the number of districts in Tupper Lake was reduced from six to five.

The county board of elections office has now fully embraced the poll pad system. “No longer, when a person goes to the polls to vote, are there books to sign.” The poll pads eliminate the need for a voter to even know their polling district, she noted.

“So the amount of space we now need for checking purposes has also decreased.”

Mrs. Sparks explained that the space available in the town-owned Aaron Maddox Hall is now adequate to accommodate all Tupper Lake voting on general election and primary days.

She said spacing requirements were carefully examined by her and her fellow election commissioner, as was accessibility to the building.

Mrs. Sparks said even though the new $200 charge is not excessive, “we don't feel it is a good taxpayer-funded cost.”

All the costs of the county's election operations are charged back to the towns, it was noted in the discussion that evening.

“We're fortunate in Tupper Lake to have the Aaron Maddox Hall which can easily accommodate the number of voters we now have.”

The current Tupper Lake vote count is about 3,300 voters- “give or take some,” she estimated that evening.

The biggest voter turn-out here during a recent presidential election was about 2,600 people, when about 80% of eligible voters here voted at the HGA, according to Mrs. Sparks.

The plan would be to use the Aaron Maddox Hall proper for the voting. The rear ramp into the senior citizen part of the building would provide “the accessibility” for all voters.

The building, she said, would generally be used two days a year- the primary in June and for November's general election.

Every four years, she said, the building would be used three days a year, with the third day being the presidential primary that April. Some years the building would be only used for voting one day when there were no primary contests.

On voting days the building would be open from 6a.m. to 9p.m. and elections officials would need time before and after the voting hours for preparation and procedural work, she told the town leaders.

“It will be easier for us to have a smaller area to use.”

Responding to a question from Councilwoman Tracy Luton, she said she has already talked with Adult Center Director Ray Bigrow about “the accessibility” to the place through his part of the building.

“Did he have any concerns about disturbing the lunches served the seniors?” Ms. Luton wondered.

Mrs. Sparks said Mr. Bigrow thought arrangements could be worked out to accommodate all parties.

“We use several other adults centers around the county for voting...and there haven't been any issues there!”

She said most people would enter the building via the front entrance off Main Street. The rear ramped entrance would only be for those with special accessibility needs.

Mrs. Sparks admitted said they also considered using a bay or bays in the fire station portion of the Emergency Services Building as a possible site. “The concern there is, while we could open up a bay and move a truck or trucks out, if there was a fire, and some voter had temporarily parked out in front, that could be a concern.”

In an election where a large turn-out resulted, like in a presidential election, parking near the building and the need to move emergency vehicles in and out of the immediate area could result in problems, she suggested.

She noted too during the 2020 presidential election, the average wait time per voter at the polls was about 25 minutes.

“So I certainly don't want cars blocking emergency vehicles here.”

“-And God forbid, should someone forget where they parked and were wandering about after voting and something were to happen!”

Supervisor Clint Hollingsworth said that one of his concerns with the relocation plan was that the new site was “right on the main street, on a busy corner.” By contrast, he said, the Marion Ave. site is in a quiet neighborhood with a very spacious parking lot.

“If it was a nasty evening in November,” safe access in and out of the hall could be a problem, he thought.

“I know there's a parking lot there, but the HGA parking lot accommodates many more cars.” He added that the emergency services building has a large parking area, as does the civic center a short distance away.

Mrs. Sparks reminded the board members that the Aaron Maddox Hall was a traditional voting place for the two junction election districts here for many years prior to the centralization of voting at the HGA site.

Using it again, she suggested, may present some historical significance for some here. She said too many years ago more voters voted in that two-poll site, than will in all the districts now.

She said too that while the HGA request is not a huge amount, it comes at a time when her agency has been dealing with dozens and dozens of state election law changes, which each come with increased costs to her agency's budget.

The Marion Ave. site was the only one in the county that the elections board had to pay rent to use. The rest are free, she told the town lawmakers.

“Normally we haven't minded, but doubling the fee is concerning,” despite how accommodating Terry and others have been there.

Councilman Rick Donah asked Mrs. Sparks when she needed a decision from the town board. “Do we need to make this decision tonight?” he asked her.

The elections commissioner said that all information about poll sites needs to be in the hands of the state board of elections by March 1. Inter-county poll decisions need to be in place by the second or third week of February.

Councilwoman Tracy Luton didn't see any problem with the Aaron Maddox Hall site. “A good number of people can park on Water Street” or on Main Street. She thought the town quarters could accommodate even a large election turnout some future year. “I'm okay with it!” She made the motion and it was seconded by Mary Fontana.

A motion to permit the board of elections to use the town building passed four to one with the dissenting vote coming from Rick Donah, who said he thought the HGA quarters more easily accommodates more people, and particularly elderly voters with its ground level entrance.

Mrs. Sparks told the local lawmakers that the reason her office likes to use senior citizen centers for polling places is that they are specifically designed to accommodate elderly people. Many, she said, have received state and federal grants to make sure they are fully handicapped accessible and have greatly benefitted from that assistance.

She speculated too if there was a conflict between election use of the building and the delivery of meals on wheels, meals could be doubled up the day before an election event, similar to the way senior citizen centers double up Fridays to include weekend meals to recipients.