Council debates moving District 7 polling location from senior center; amendment to exclude 2025 election fails

Councilors discussed a request to relocate District 7 polling from the Lowell Senior Center to Stoklosa (Stoklosa Middle School was proposed as an alternative) to reduce disruption to senior‑center programming. Speakers included local voters, election volunteers and civic groups who urged caution and requested more outreach if a change were to occur.
Election Director Will Rosenbury said the senior center is used for early voting and acknowledged that hosting both early voting and an election can disrupt senior activities. He told councilors the administration would need to verify ADA compliance at any new site and that the schools had been consulted; he said the city would use Lowell High School for at least one upcoming vote day. Public commenters and civic groups stressed that moving a polling location reduces turnout unless the city engages in a long, multimodal notification campaign and implements accessibility checks.
Councilor Janessa moved an amendment to make any relocation not take effect for the 2025 election cycle; that amendment failed on roll call. The council then voted to request the manager evaluate alternative polling options and report back; the motion as amended (with a requirement the change not apply to the 2025 election) failed, and the council left the Senior Center in place for the immediate election cycle. The council asked the manager and the election director to prepare neighborhood‑wide outreach and, if relocation is eventually recommended, to implement robust notification and ADA verification before any change.