My wife and I recently moved to Rockford this past summer. I got my voting changed around, and it said to go to the Fire Station, but the address was on Monroe. I walked over to the Fire Station, but no sign was out front. A bit confused, so I walked over to the Monroe side, and saw a bunch of people going into the door where I pay my huge water bill. I stood there for about 15 minutes before I heard a lady behind me talking about how short the “other” line was that she was wrongly in, at the other door. I had no idea what she was talking about, so I asked her, and she said how the “east of the river” people went over to that other door in back of the fire station. I didn’t know what “east of the river” meant, but finally figured out that, since I lived in town, that I must be east of the river. So, I left that line and walked over to the back door, and there was just a sign that said “voting here”…. nothing else about two lines, nobody directing people, nothing. I went in and asked the gentleman, and he directed me to the area. Later, after I came out, I saw a sign up on the sidewalk, and it had small print on the bottom about “east of the river”, but I wouldn’t have known what that even meant at first. Nobody said there were two precincts voting at the same address, in two parts of the building. Couldn’t there be a large sign stating the difference in the two areas?
Many people were upset. I saw a number of people come over after me, from the other line, because they didn’t know there were two. I heard the man telling a number of people that they were at the wrong precinct. Plus, one lady came to the back of the fire station, and saw another lady crying, because she couldn’t get in. The back door was locked, and she didn’t have time to vote after waiting and looking. So the other lady directed her to the other area, that had the open door at the water bill area, and they both waited for a long time in the “wrong” line. On top of all that, the lady at the end was having a really hard time, getting the ballots to go into the machine. People seemed frustrated with voting. It just seems like for such a nice town, there would be good solid directions.
Marty Miller
Rockford, MI
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