Big changes await voters

• City Redistricting

City Redistricting

Talk about it

Things are going to be confusing for Alexandria voters this fall.

Not only will they be confronted with new candidates in newly drawn legislative districts, they’ll also be voting at a different place.

The city, which is required to redraw the boundaries of its five wards every 10 years to reflect population shifts, approved the new ward lines at its meeting Monday night.

One big change is that because Ward 5 now contains two legislative districts, the ward is now split into two precincts. (See map showing the new boundaries of all five wards.)

The city also changed the location of the polling places. Here’s where residents will vote this fall:

• Ward 1 – precincts 1 and 2 will vote at Lake Community Church, 1751 County Road 44 NW. (It used to be at City Hall and Shalom Lutheran Church.)

• Ward 2 – Living Waters Church, 1310 North Nokomis. (It used to be at Calvary Lutheran Church and Bethesda Lutheran Church.)

• Ward 3 – New Life Christian Church, 1910 Highway 27 East. (It used to be at City Hall.)

• Ward 4 – Cornerstone Church (the old Baptist church), 202 7th Avenue East. (It used to be at Calvary Church.)

• Ward 5 – precincts 1 and 2 will vote at City Hall. (It used to be at the Congregational Church.)

The city tried to find new polling places that are centrally located within the ward.

City Administrator Jim Taddei acknowledged that the changes will cause some confusion.

“We’re making quite a change,” he told the council. “There will be a problem with some people not knowing where to vote.”

Another unfortunate consequence of the voting change: The city received and spent state grants to install handicap-accessible automatic opening doors at both Shalom and Bethesda churches, which will no longer be polling places.

Taddei added that the new polling sites are all on ground level, making easier access for handicapped voters.

Read related story Douglas County commissioners approve redistricting plan.

Tags: local news, news, voters, districts, boundaries, polling, wards