BIDDEFORD — In advance of the Biddeford City Council taking action on the issue, on Tuesday the public had their say on whether they thought consolidating the current three polling sites to a single location at the Biddeford High School Tiger gym was a good idea.

Lack of parking at most locations, cramped quarters at one site and greater efficiency were among the reasons given by City Clerk Carmen Morris when she presented the consolidation proposal to the council earlier this month.

During the public hearing, both supporters and detractors of the proposal gave their opinions.

“Leave everything alone except for the Rochambeau,” said former Mayor Joanne Twomey. Having multiple polling places close to voters’ homes “is what is democracy,” she said.

Currently, residents of the seven city wards vote at three different polling places. Wards 1 and 2 vote at the city’s public access center, wards 3, 4 and 5 vote at the J. Richard Martin Community Center, and wards 6 and 7 vote at the Rochambeau Club.

Prior to the BHS renovation, voters in wards 6 and 7 voted at the high school. Twomey said voters from those wards, and only those wards, should be able to once again cast their ballots at BHS.

When presenting the consolidation proposal, Morris said those who didn’t want to vote at the high school could cast absentee ballots. Voting by absentee ballot has increased significantly over the years, she said.

Many seniors don’t want to vote absentee, said Twomey. They want to vote at their polling places, because it gives them a chance to socialize.

Resident Ron Peaker said the consolidation proposal should be a ballot question.

“Let the people who are voting decide,” he said, adding that the polling place for wards 6 and 7 should return to the high school.

Resident Richard Rhames, who opposes consolidation, said he thought the only advantage of it was as a convenience for the city clerk’s office.

One reason given for creating a single polling place is that it would be more efficient for those involved in holding the election and putting the polling place together, which includes the city clerk’s office and the public works department.

“From a management standpoint, I clearly understand why (the city clerk) is doing it,” said resident Paul Therrien.

He said he opposes a single polling place because it would “displace” and “disenfranchise some voters.”

Consolidation of polling places does have merit, said resident Ryan Fecteau.

However, he said, he didn’t think the high school was the right location. A more central location would be best, said Fecteau, although he acknowledged that the city doesn’t currently own such a location that has adequate parking.

Fecteau recommended revisiting the issue to come up with a different site for consideration.

Ending voter confusion was a major reason resident George “Pete” Lamontagne said he favored having a single polling site.

He said he’s manned telephones for many elections, and he’s had hundreds of calls from residents asking where their polling place is.

“I think having a central voting area is a capital idea,” said Lamontagne.

“We knew this would be controversial,” said Mayor Alan Casavant, who would like the council to consider the idea.

“It’s not a perfect plan, but no plan is,” he said.

Casavant said the council will consider the polling place consolidation issue in June. He said he wanted council action to be at a meeting on a date after the public hearing so the council could “digest” public comments.

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324 or [email protected].