The polling place for the Lyon Park voting precinct has moved for the Nov. 4 election, from its normal location at the Lyon Park Community Center to the Garfield Park Apartments.
The community center closed temporarily for major renovations on Oct. 1, but voters in Arlington’s 15th voting precinct — generally, homes south of 10th Street N., east of N. Garfield Street and north and west of Arlington Blvd — have yet to be notified of their new voting center, at 925 N. Garfield Street.
Arlington County General Registrar Linda Lindberg told ARLnow.com today “we are in the process of mailing notices to voters,” and signs are posted at the community center. After they were notified of the community center’s long-term closure, the county struggled to find a suitable replacement.
“Because of a shortage of suitable facilities within the precinct, finding an alternative took a little longer than we would have preferred, but Garfield Park came through for us,” Lindberg said in an email. “Voting will remain there until the community center reopens.”
The Sun Gazette reported on Friday that a June 2015 primary — such as for County Board and Arlington’s General Assembly seats — would also likely have Garfield Park as its polling place before an expected switch back to the community center for next November.
Polling places are determined by local governments, Lindberg said, but because of the short notice before the election, the Electoral Board decided to make an “emergency” switch. The new polling place location must be approved by the County Board with a public hearing, the process for which will happen after the election.
Garfield Park is at the northwestern most corner of the voting precinct, several blocks from the community center, which is on the district’s western edge but more centrally located (it’s the location in yellow on the map in the above photo gallery). At least one resident is concerned about the last-minute change and how it affects voter accessibility.
“This change will certainly result in a much lower turnout for this precinct and prevent many elderly and disabled from voting,” Lyon Park resident Martin Lee told ARLnow.com in an email.
Lindberg said that, like all other polling places in the county, “there will be specific parking blocked off for voters who need accessible spaces.” Voters will enter the apartment building through the community room, and signs will be posted to direct them to the ballot box.