Waterboro selectmen, noting the limits of the Town Hall space, are asking RSU 57 directors to allow the town the use of the school  to conduct voting for presidential and gubernatorial elections. In November 2018, the Town Hall was overwhelmed with the number of voters. despite the hefty number  who had cast absentee ballots. TAMMY WELLS/Journal Tribune file photo

WATERBORO – In the 2018 gubernatorial election, there were 3,138 ballots cast in Waterboro, with 1,248 – around 40 percent of them – absentee. The rest, 1,890 votes, were cast at the Town Hall.

Last fall, those numbers overwhelmed building capacity and the available parking, Waterboro selectmen say, creating an unsafe situation. And in a town with 5,100 registered voters, the number of residents casting ballots is only expected to increase for the 2020 presidential election.

As a solution, selectmen are asking RSU 57 school directors to allow the town to use space at one of the schools for voting for one day, every two years – at gubernatorial and presidential elections. Local elections in the off years would continue to be held at the Town Hall.

Voting used to be held at the schools – first Waterboro Elementary School, then at Massabesic Middle School and later, Massabesic East on the Massabesic High School campus.

Safety concerns led the district board of directors to halt the practice – pointing out traffic issues with buses, students and voters all attempting to transverse the same space, in some cases.

The Massabesic East building, where voting was last cast at when it was held in one of the school buildings, is separate from the main high school campus. It is near the RSU 57 office building and an internal roadway that bisects the property. With buses traveling the internal roadway to get to the main road, and students crossing from the main building to classes at the East building, the area can get pretty busy.

At the RSU 57 School Directors meeting on Wednesday, other safety concerns raised about resuming voting at the Massabesic East building included the possibilities of hunters bringing firearms on school grounds. As well, one school director raised the issue of registered sex offenders being on the property to vote.

“There were a lot of people moving in and out of here all day long,” said Superintendent Larry Malone of the last election at Massabesic East. “It was a problem getting people in and out, and buses in and out, in the morning and at the end of the school day.”

Waterboro had hired off- duty York County Sheriff’s Office deputies to provide security for that election but miscommunication meant they weren’t on site when the polls opened, said Town Administrator Gary Lamb. He asked the school directors to consider the number of security personnel they’d want the town to provide, should they approve voting on a school property.

Malone said options for closing one of the schools for the day had been examined. He said Massabesic High School would be out of compliance with Sanford Regional Technical Center’s schedule, where some students attend classes. Closing the Middle School would require local and state approval for replacing the day, and would mean no school for the entire district – as would closing the high school. That leaves Waterboro Elementary School, said Malone, and the district would have to address how close school for one group of students, but not others, as RSU 57 has elementary schools in several towns.

A bill that would make Election Day a state holiday, L.D. 431, which would mean schools would be closed, was carried over to the next legislative session.

School Director Sarah Hewitt suggested precincts that would see voting in the Town Hall continue, supplemented with another voting location for gubernatorial and presidential elections.

Lamb said the Grange Hall on West Road is not handicapped accessible and has little parking. And while the Lions Club building has an elevator, parking there is an issue as well and parking on Route 202 in that location is not safe.

Hewitt asked about churches.

Lamb said those associated with the largest church building in town had been approached and declined.

Selectmen’s Board Chairman Dennis Abbott noted that if there was voting in a church, the issue of church and state would likely be raised.

Director Elizabeth Keith asked about using Waterboro Fire Department, and while that could happen, parking would be an issue and a location would have to be provided for fire and EMS equipment and staff, Lamb noted.

Abbott told the school district directors that the town is expanding the Town Hall parking lot and has further plans to expand it more, but he pointed out that the room where voting takes place, in the old Town Hall, can accommodate only 51 people at time – including election staff.

He said he expects the town will also need more voting machines for the 2020 presidential vote but there is no space for them there.

In the November 2018 election, some people said they waited an hour to vote – despite an early campaign for absentee voting that resulted in 40 percent of the turnout choosing that alternative.

Lamb estimated more than 4 ,000 people will cast ballots in the 2020 election – and even if 40 percent of them vote absentee, that still leaves 2,400 people casting ballots on Election Day.

At 5,100, Waterboro has the largest number of registered voters in the district. The next  closest is Lyman, with about 3,500.

Chairman of the RSU 57 Board of Directors Bruce Woodward said he’d go over the options with Malone and the issue would be moved to the board’s safety committee.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 780-9016 or twells@journaltribune.com.