Published June 25, 2021
MELROSE — During the summer, officials will decide what to do about the city’s polling places.
The Melrose Board of Registrars of Voters has recommended closing the Winthrop School and the Julian Steele House as voting places, the City Council learned recently.
In a memo to the councilors, Theodore Hunt, chairman of the local Board of Registrars of Voters, outlined some details behind the move.
Prior to her departure in April, City Clerk Amy Kamosa notified the Secretary of State’s Office of her concerns related to accessibility issues (at the Hoover School, the Winthrop School and the Julian Steele House). As a result, Elections Administrator Joanne Perperian scheduled a tour of several polling locations with Bridget Simmons Murphy, of Secretary Galvin’s Office, this tour took place on May 14, 2021. Ms. Simmons Murphy subsequently provided the City of Melrose a report noting her evaluation of six polling locations dated May 20, 2021. Of the six polling locations surveyed, four locations did not comply with state standards. (The two that did were the Hoover and the Roosevelt School.)
“At the June 9th Board of Registrars of Voters meeting,” Hunt wrote, “members of the Board and Joanne Perperian discussed the report and the potential remediation of noted issues with Director Elena Proakis-Ellis, Facilities Manager Jay McNeil and Business Manager Jim Troup of the Department of Public Works (DPW). The issues noted at City Hall and the Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School Gymnasium could be remedied in the view of our DPW partners. However it was determined through our discussion that it was not feasible to remediate the issues noted at the Winthrop School. Additionally, while there might be a way to address this issue noted at the Steele House, the location remains ill-suited for voting.
Winthrop School
“The Ashcroft Street voter entrance to the Winthrop School, consists of three steps, a short platform, then a fourth step at the door entering the outer lobby of the All-Purpose Room (APR). For voters unable to navigate the stairs, they must use the First Street entrance, proceed down the hallway to enter the back of the APR, and proceed through the voting area to the check in table, then retrace this path to exit. As noted in Ms. Simmons Murphy’s report, the path of travel for the accessible entrance to the voting area is substantially longer than the path of travel from the main entrance to the voting area. To remediate the issue related to the ‘path of travel’ the only option would be the installation of a ramp at the Ashcroft Street entrance. During the meeting on June 9th, there was a discussion regarding the practicality and cost to installing a ramp at the Ashcroft Street entrance and it was determined that would not be possible to install a ramp at that location due to the height of the four stairs and the topography of the space outside the entrance. Additional considerations and discussion was noted regarding access for public safety and emergency vehicles to the site. Given the inability to remediate the ‘path of travel’ issue, this location cannot be brought into compliance, therefore the Board of Registrars of Voters recommends that the Winthrop School be closed as a polling location.
Steele House
“While parking for all voters at the Steele House has been a perennial issue, the lack of accessible parking was specifically noted in Ms. Simmons Murphy’s report. While it might be feasible for the Department of Public Works (subject to the approval of the Melrose Housing Authority) to replace two standard parking spaces with a van-accessible parking space in the resident only lot to bring the location into compliance, parking for all voters still remains an issue. Practically speaking there are only two visitor spots for the Steele House. Additionally, the layout of the interior of the Steele House where voting takes place is poor. Voting takes place in the first floor common area (the only communal gathering spot), where voters comingle with Steele House residents. Given that there are two other viable polling locations within Ward 1, the Board of Registrars of Voters also recommends that the Steele House be closed as a polling location.
Next steps/options:
In the view of Board of Registrars of Voters, there are two options to facilitate the closure of the above noted locations:
1. Make permanent the central voting location of the Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School Gymnasium (the site of the two fall elections in 2020), or,
2. Move the two precincts that vote at the Winthrop School (Ward 4, Precinct 2 and Ward 6, Precinct 2) to Memorial Hall and move the one precinct that votes at the Steele House (Ward 1, Precinct 2) to the Roosevelt School. This would result in all of Ward 1 voting at the Roosevelt School.
Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School Gymnasium
“The move to the Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School Gymnasium for September and November 2020 election proved to be an operational success. However, the COVID-19 related legislation that permitted the use of the Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School Gymnasium, specifically the waiving of the requirement that voting take place in adjacent precinct in cities, such as Melrose, has not been extended. As a result, should the City Council desire to adopt a single polling location voting at the Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School Gymnasium the City Council would need to vote to file a ‘Home Rule Petition’ with the Legislature for an exemption to the adjacent precinct provision of Massachusetts General Laws.
Moving selected precincts “Moving the three precincts as noted above would be solely at the discretion of the City Council as each of the precincts are adjacent to the respective new locations. If this is the desired option of the City Council, the Board of Registrars of Voters would also recommend the relocation of the precincts that vote in the City Council Chamber at City Hall (Ward 4, Precinct 1 and Ward 6, Precinct 1) to Memorial Hall. Given the proximity of these two locations and the space available at Memorial Hall, it would make sense to no longer split these two wards based on precinct,” Hunt concludes.