Voting: It Should be as Easy as Possible

On Tuesday , City Council and I meet with the two Jefferson County election commissioners. The subject is making it easier to find polling places and stopping the merry-go-round moving of some polling spots that have left voters I know voting in four or five different locations in the past decade.
When I first ran for mayor in 1991 there were 30 election districts scattered through schools, armories, public buildings and churches. It was pretty convenient but we didn't need that many ED's. We reduced it to the current 18.
Then there was an ill-advised effort to remove polling places from schools, a sentiment no longer shared by election or school officials.
What better lesson in democracy and civics than for the community to vote in the schools. One goal is to get the southside polling places now in the NYS Office Building into WHS. There is talk of conslidating the whole northside into the NorthSide League building on Mill Street.
Other changes may come as well.
Anyone who has seen folks struggling against the wind to get into the SOB, or walking by one polling place to get to the one they are supposed to be at knows some changes are needed.
I applaud the commissioners and the council for trying to work on solutions that will make voting easier and more accessible.