MONTAGUE — Voting locations have been changed for the elections on both Sept. 1 and Nov. 3. The new locations were chosen mostly for social distancing capacity, but the changes are likely to be permanent even after this fall’s elections, according to Town Clerk Deb Bourbeau.
Polling hours at all locations for the Sept. 1 state primary will be 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Early voting will be available from Saturday, Aug. 22, through Thursday, Aug. 27. All early voting is at the Gill-Montague Senior Center at 62 Fifth St. Polling hours on Aug. 22 and 23 are 8 a.m. to noon; on Aug. 24, 25 and 27, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and on Aug. 26, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For Sept. 1, five of the six precincts have been moved to new locations. Four of them — Precincts 2, 3, 4 and 6 — are all voting at the same location, Franklin County Technical School at 82 Industrial Blvd.
Bourbeau said the school gymnasium is large enough to accommodate all four precincts’ voting activities while allowing for social distancing. Previously, these four precincts had been voting in smaller spaces that would not have had enough space to social distance, she said.
Residents of Precinct 5 will now vote at the Senior Center. Before this location change, Precinct 5 voted at Town Hall.
The only precinct whose voting location has not changed is Precinct 1, which votes at the Montague Center Fire Station.
The new voting locations will most likely be permanent, Bourbeau said. Franklin Tech has indicated to her that the gym will most likely still be available for future elections.
Apart from the public health considerations, Bourbeau said, consolidating voting locations in Montague will probably simplify the process. Franklin Tech also has better parking than the previous locations, she added.
“It just fits our needs so much better than what we’re working with right now,” she said. “I think to have four precincts all in one location will serve the town a lot better than having them sprinkled throughout the villages.”
Although the precincts share a voting location for now, they have not been combined into one larger precinct, Bourbeau said. Each one will have its own election workers at the school gym.
In the long term, Bourbeau said she may consider proposing a plan to reduce the number of precincts in Montague, probably to three. However, the decision to do so would require a Town Meeting vote. No plans to put such a question on a Town Meeting warrant have been discussed recently.
Reach Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.