Unusually low voter turnout at one Gary precinct polling location has prompted a call to change the site or increase signage so voters can find it.
Carol Ann Seaton appeared before the Lake County Board of Elections to request a polling location change in Gary for voters in precinct G-5-4 who currently use the city’s fire station at 6012 W. 26th Ave.
“No one can find it,” Seaton said.
The fire station is on a dirt road that looks like a dead end. It sits back from the main road and cannot be seen from the street. Seaton said she requested and received extra signage for the November general election, but it did not appear to help.
There are 1,242 registered voters in G-5-4, according to the November 2023 election results for the precinct posted on the election board website. Only 42 voted in November and one of those votes was an absentee ballot.
Voter turnout in November in the precinct was 3.87% compared to an overall county turnout just shy of 17%.
Board president Kevin Smith agreed the turnout was unusual.
“That voter turnout is pretty low,” Smith said.
Seaton said the highest the turnout at that polling place has ever been was 112 voters, still less than a 10% turnout, a figure below the average county turnout rate.
“People kept calling all day asking for directions,” Seaton said. Even with directions, voters were having difficulty finding the polling place.
Board member Michael Brown, the county clerk, said he too was fielding phone calls from confused voters in November.
“I think the location is a huge issue,” Brown said.
Seaton said she originally tried working with Hard Rock Northern Indiana as a potential polling place. While casino officials were willing, the Indiana Gaming Commission recently nixed the idea, bringing finding a new site back to the drawing board.
Beacon Light Church at 3770 Burr St., has tentatively agreed to be a polling site, but inspectors have not yet had a chance to check the site for ADA and other necessary compliance issues. Seaton said the church board still had to meet to approve allowing the site for use as a polling place.
“Until we can get all that done, we’re still stuck,” Brown said. “I think the church is a much better alternative.”
The board approved the switch contingent on the site meeting the approval of both the Democratic and Republican chairmen in the city, approval from the church board and clearance by inspectors the site meets ADA and other requirements.
Brown said if a change cannot be made, officials need to look more closely at signage for the street for the existing location.
cnapoleon@chicagotribune.com
