Boro seeks approval of new polling places
County Board of Elections will review change of election venues
BY LAYLI WHYTE
Staff Writer

EATONTOWN - A new plan that moves polling places out of all but one borough school awaits the approval of the Monmouth County Board of Elections (MCBE).

Mayor Gerald Tarantolo said Tuesday that the borough, along with officials from the board of elections have until Feb. 19 to finalize the locations of the new polling places.

He said that there is an unofficial plan in place, and that he expected to have the official plan authorized by the board later that day .

The county would then send the new location information to the state, which would have the final say in authorizing the changes.

The request for the change in polling places came from the Eatontown Public School District Board of Education, after apparently receiving complaints from parents about the general public having access to the schools.

Tarantolo said last week that he agrees with the Board of Education's assertion that allowing the general public open access to the schools, where voters in seven of the borough's nine voting districts cast ballots on election days, represents a security risk to students.

The board requested the change last month, and some council members at first opposed the idea of changing locations saying it would inconvenience voters. However, Tarantolo compiled a list of possible new polling locations and presented them to county Board of Elections Administrator Hedra Siskal last week.

If the Board of Elections approves the new plan, according to Tarantolo, the changes would be as follows:

+ Voting districts three and five would be relocated to the meeting room at the Eatontown Public Library, Broad Street.

+ Districts six, seven and eight would be relocated to the community room at St. Dorothea's Church, Broad Street.

Districts four and nine would vote at Memorial School, which, Tarantolo said, is more conducive to isolating the general voting public from the school children.

Districts one and two, which currently vote at the Eatontown Community Center, would not be affected.

"Hedra indicated that she would review the plan," Tarantolo said, "and see if it meets the criteria of public polling places."

"If the county does not accept the plan," said Tarantolo, "then we're back to square one and we'll have to use the schools again this year and try to find other locations for next year."

Tarantolo said that he believes the plan will be approved.

"All the governing body is trying to do is accommodate the concerns of the board of education and the parents," he said. "I believe they are correct in the assumption that the security and safety of their children is of utmost importance."

Tarantolo said that once the final decision is made by the county about the changes, and if they are accepted, it will be the shared responsibility of the county, municipality and the schools to get that information out to the public.

"We will probably include the information on our Web site," he said, "and I would hope the schools may send a notice home with the children. Also, when the county sends out the sample ballots, they will identify the new locations."