“The fire station is kind of a critical hub for the community,” says Mayor Dave Bartholomay. “We didn’t necessarily want a lot of people coming into that who could potentially be bringing some challenges. If that would run through our fire department that could begin to impact public safety.”
Voting will be moved from the Centennial Lakes Fire station where ballots have been cast since the 1980’s, to nearby St. Mark’s Lutheran Church which said they have the space to accommodate voters. Since the fire station has been used as a voting precinct for so long, the city plans to work to notify voters of the change. Mayor Bartholomay says it’s likely the switch will be for this year only.
Local officials are encouraged to use the time between now and the July first deadline to review how precincts are set up with COVID-19 rules in mind. Paul Linnel with Anoka County Elections says the legislature’s intent was to avoid polling places in schools and health care facilities, like senior living centers if at all possible.
“When that bill passed, we passed that information on and engaged our cities to say, take a look at your locations that are currently designated as polling places and make sure you’re still able to meet social distancing requirements and you’re still able to accommodate voters given the circumstances that we’re in,” said Linnell.
Officials are also strongly encouraging voters to vote absentee through the mail. Anoka County will send out a mailing that outlines all the voting options: absentee by mail, absentee in person, and in person on election day.
“While we know lines will be longer because of the physical distance between voters, we hope to avoid any additional time voters have to spend waiting in line to cast their ballot,” said Linnell. “We think making everyone aware of their full range of options will help to minimize those lines.”
In 2018, 21 percent of all voters cast their ballots absent. Linnel says that number could easily double this year.
Absentee voting begins for the Primary Election on June 26. If you choose to vote by mail, just make sure you mail the ballot early enough so it arrives by the deadline.
