Concerns about the spread of COVID-19 have led Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose to order that voting locations in retirement living or senior care facilities be moved for primary election day next Tuesday.
To safeguard seniors, the Summit County Board of Elections moved 10 polling locations out of senior housing facilities, affecting nearly 11,000 voters.
To inform voters, bright orange post cards were mailed to each voter in the affected precincts.
Election workers also delivered absentee ballots to the facilities, because manyof the residents have
difficulty with mobility.
On Election Day, the workers will be at the old locations, handing out turn-by-turn directions to the new voting sites, said Board Chair Bill Rich.
The board also distributed sanitization kits to all 171 polling locations, which will be cleaned prior to Election Day, and stocked with hand soap, disinfectant and tissues.
“The election is proceeding and board of the elections is taking every precaution to make voting safe,” Rich said. “As far as we know at this point the coronavirus isn’t present in this county. But we’re doing everything on the assumption that it could be present. Under the circumstances I think we’re doing the very best we can.”
The coronavirus is not expected to have a large impact on election turnout.
“I expect there will be some people, probably disproportionately older people, who haven’t voted early in person or by mail who may decide not to show up on Election Day,” Rich said. “But my guess is most people will and that turnout won’t be a lot lower than it otherwise would have been.“
The precinct relocations are:
- Polling Location 1 Precinct: Akron 1-D
Old Location: Fowler Apartments, 65 Byers Avenue, Akron, 44302
New Location: St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 1361 West Market Street, Akron, 44313 - Polling Location 2 Precinct: Akron 2-C
Old Location: Nimmer Place, 1600 Brittain Road, Akron, 44310
New Location: Forest Hill CLC, 850 Damon Street, Akron, 44310 - Polling Location 3 Precinct: Akron 3-C, 3-G
Old Location: Saferstein Towers II, 585 Diagonal Road, Akron, 44320
New Location: Helen Arnold CLC, 450 Vernon Odom Blvd, Akron, 44307 - Polling Location 4 Precinct: Akron 3-I
Old Location: Callis Tower, 730 Callis Drive, Akron, 44311
New Location: Leggett CLC, 333 East Thornton Street, Akron, 44311 - Polling Location 5 Precinct: Akron 5-D
Old Location: Lauer Apartments, 666 North Howard Street, Akron, 44310
New Location: Findley CLC, 65 West Tallmadge Avenue, Akron, 44310 - Polling Location 6 Precinct: Akron 5-N
Old Location: Cotter House, 50 Cotter Avenue, Akron 44305
New Location: Mason CLC, 700 East Exchange Street, Akron, 44306 - Polling Location 7 Precinct: Cuyahoga Falls 2-B
Old Location: Sutliff Apartments, 1850 2nd Street, Cuyahoga Falls, 44221
New Location: St. Luke's Lutheran Church, 2121 6th St, Cuyahoga Falls, 44221 - Polling Location 8 Precincts: Hudson 2-B & 2-D
Old Location: Laurel Lake Retirement Community, 200 Laurel Lake Drive, Hudson, 44236
New Location: Western Reserve Christian Church, 516 West Streetsboro Street, Hudson, 44236 - Polling Location 9 Precinct: Macedonia H
Old Location: Summit Point, 9633 Valley View Road, Macedonia, 44056
New Location: Western Reserve Grace Church, 1066 East Aurora Road, Macedonia, 44056 - Polling Location 10 Precinct: Sagamore Township G
Old Location: Elmcroft of Sagamore Hills, 997 W. Aurora Road, Northfield, 44067
New Location: Northfield Baptist Church, 311 W. Aurora Road, Northfield, 44067
The Board of Elections is encouraging voters to cast ballots early or by absentee. Voters can request an absentee ballot through noon on Saturday, March 14. Absentee ballots must be postmarked by March 16 to be counted. They can also be dropped off at the Summit County Board of Elections on primary day, March 17 from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. The Board of Elections is located at 470 Grant Street in Akron. Voters can cast ballots during early voting at the Board of Elections. Hours are:
- March 11, 12, 13 8 a.m.-7 p.m.
- March 14 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
- March 15 1 p.m.-5 p.m.
- March 16 8 a.m.-2 p.m.
In Cuyahoga County there are 36 locations at senior residential facilities, 18 of which are in Cleveland.
The board of elections is in the process of establishing new locations and asking voters to check a list to see if their voting location has moved. The following polling places are affected:
KNICKERBOCKER APARTMENTS, 27100 KNICKERBOCKER ROAD, BAY VILLAGE
MENORAH PARK CENTER FOR SENIOR LIVING, 27100 CEDAR ROAD, BEACHWOOD
LIGHT OF HEARTS VILLA, 283 UNION STREET, BEDFORD
QUARRY TOWN, 55 WEST BAGLEY ROAD, BEREA
GREATER ABYSSINIA TOWERS, 10401 SUPERIOR AVENUE, CLEVELAND
EUCLID BEACH CLUB RESIDENCE, 123 EAST 156TH STREET, CLEVELAND
EUCLID BEACH VILLA, 125 EAST 156TH STREET, CLEVELAND
ST ANDREWS TOWER, 5225 SUPERIOR AVENUE, CLEVELAND
ROSE CENTER FOR AGING WELL, 16600 LAKE SHORE BOULEVARD, CLEVELAND
THE MARC APARTMENTS, 4733 LEE ROAD, CLEVELAND
LEE-MILES APARTMENTS, 4345 LEE ROAD, CLEVELAND
ABINGTON ARMS APARTMENTS, 11501 MAYFIELD ROAD, CLEVELAND
MORNING STAR BAPTIST CHURCH, 10250 SHAKER BOULEVARD, CLEVELAND
JAELOT APARTMENTS, 12730 SHAKER BOULEVARD, CLEVELAND
FAIRHILL PARTNERS, 12200 FAIRHILL ROAD, CLEVELAND
ALEXIA MANOR, 5125 HECTOR STREET, CLEVELAND
ADDISON SQUARE APARTMENTS, 7400 WADE PARK AVENUE, CLEVELAND
KIRBY MANOR APARTMENTS, 11500 DETROIT AVENUE, CLEVELAND
SKYLINE TOWERS, 2250 COMMUNITY COLLEGE AVENUE, CLEVELAND
MT AUBURN MANOR APARTMENTS, 3061 EAST 93RD STREET, CLEVELAND
RIVERVIEW APARTMENTS, 1795 WEST 25TH STREET, CLEVELAND
ST CLAIR PLACE, 1380 EAST 13TH STREET, CLEVELAND
WARRENSVILLE COMMUNITY APARTMENTS, 1500 WARRENSVILLE CTR ROAD, CLEVELAND HTS
JUDSON PARK, 1801 CHESTNUT HILLS DRIVE, CLEVELAND HTS
SEVERANCE TOWERS, 25 SEVERANCE CIRCLE, CLEVELAND HTS
APTHORP TOWERS APARTMENTS, 12900 SUPERIOR AVENUE, EAST CLEVELAND
MILDRED L BREWER PLACE, 14028 EUCLID AVE, EAST CLEVELAND
INDIAN HILLS BUILDING G, 19200 ROSELAND AVE, EUCLID
HILLTOP VILLAGE, 25900 EUCLID AVENUE, EUCLID
ONEILL HEALTHCARE, 20770 LORAIN ROAD, FAIRVIEW PARK
ST TIMOTHY PARK APARTMENTS, 4350 EAST 136TH STREET, GARFIELD HTS
WESTERLY APARTMENTS AT BARTON CENTER, 14312 DETROIT AVENUE, LAKEWOOD
SCHNURMANN-LUTHER SOCIAL CENTER, 1229 DRURY COURT, MAYFIELD HTS
THE NORMANDY APARTMENTS, 22701 LAKE ROAD, ROCKY RIVER
PINZONE TOWER APARTMENTS, 21900 ADDINGTON BOULEVARD, ROCKY RIVER
UNIVERSITY SUBURBAN HEALTH CENTER, 1611 SOUTH GREEN ROAD, SOUTH EUCLID
The list is also on the board’s website www.443VOTE.us. Voters may call 216-443-VOTE (8683) to see whether their voting locations have been moved.
When the new voting locations have been established the board will mail all affected voters a postcard informing them of their new polling location.
