Whither democracy?

Town officials are pondering a change to the town’s central polling location, which would forsake Brunswick Junior High School for the eventual new recreation center at Brunswick Landing.

A public hearing on the potential change is set for July 15.

In 2010, the town consolidated voting from seven separate districts into one centralized poll at the junior high. Logistically it has worked very well, according to Town Manager Gary Brown — except that Town Clerk Fran Smith had to ask the School Board to close the school during the Nov. 6, 2012 general election because of the chaos.

The former U.S. Navy field house at 220 Neptune Drive, also known as Building 211, “is ideally suited for central voting,” Brown said. “It has more than adequate parking, the inside suits itself very well to laying out the voting set-up, and it’s also very welllit in the evenings.”

But, as District Four Town Councilor John Perreault pointed out, for residents who live on the western or southern fringes of town, the former U.S. Navy base is hardly “central.”

“It’s not centrally located,” Perreault said. “Geographically, it’s a lot closer to West Bath than it is to Durham, and I live near Durham.”

“The negative impact on the school is a negative for me during governors and presidentials (elections),” Pols said.

To make the polling change possible in time for the November election — which is an off-year election, with only local candidates and referendums on the ballot — councilors would have to schedule a public hearing before the end of the month.

State law requires at least a 60-day notice when a polling location is changed.

Most favored the location change but questioned whether preparing it for November would be asking too much.

“I’m in favor of the idea, but would rather wait a year,” said at-large Councilor John Richardson Jr. “I’d like to see the building get up and running, and with a little more familiarity by the population here would probably be a good thing.”

Brayman said her in-town constituents don’t like it.

“People in my district like the idea of a voting place that they can walk to,” she said. “I’m not in favor of this, I’d like to put it off a year.”

“I don’t like the idea and I will be in futile opposition to it, as I was to centralized voting in the first place,” Tucker said, then moved to set the public hearing for July 15. The motion passed 8-1, with Brayman in sole opposition.

While the town is licensed to use Building 211, the facility has yet to be formally turned over by the U.S. Navy — which Brown said is likely to happen by the end of the month.

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