Mansfield Township officials discuss restructuring voting District 1 to ease overcrowding on Election Day.
By: William Wichert
MANSFIELD For the second time in the last two years, township officials have announced plans to investigate the possible restructuring of the municipality’s five voting districts.
The voting bloc in question is District 1, which officials say must be revamped to ease the overcrowding on Election Day in an area that includes the Mapleton and Four Seasons at Mapleton communities two of the largest private developments in the township.
"That district is very heavy," said Township Administrator Joseph Broski, who lives within District 1, in a phone interview last week. "Last year in the general election, it was swamped."
The registered voters in District 1 represent more than half of the 5,595 total voters in the township, acting Township Clerk Linda Semus said by phone on Tuesday. There are 2,774 registered voters in District 1, compared to 721, 623, 532, and 945 voters in Districts 2, 3, 4, and 5 respectively, she said.
The first effects of any restructuring would not be seen until the 2006 general election, because the deadline for submitting an application to Burlington County Board of Elections for this year’s election was March 31, said Ms. Semus. The township is still figuring out the application process, she said.
In the general election last November, the exorbitant numbers in District 1 produced at least 20-minute waits at the polls at Northern Burlington County Regional High School, said Township Committeeman Jaime Devereaux, who is also a Mapleton resident, in a Monday phone interview.
"It took me almost a half-hour to vote," said Mr. Devereaux. "It’s just way too many people in one area to go into one school to vote." He said the wait at the Municipal Building for District 2 and 3 voters was between five and 10 minutes.
Mr. Devereaux said he encountered many voters in the last general election who could not wait to cast their ballots, because they had to either pick up their kids or go to work.
"What we need to do is make it easier for them," Mr. Devereaux said .
Ms. Semus said former Mayor Patrick DeLorenzo, another Mapleton resident, had pursued restructuring District 1 last year, but she said she did not know why that effort did not work out. Mr. DeLorenzo resigned from office in September 2004.
Judy Fow, an administrator with the Burlington County Board of Elections, said by phone on Tuesday that she was not aware of any formal application submitted recently to restructure any of the Mansfield voting districts.
The first step for township officials to do in the restructuring process, said Ms. Fow, is obtain the written approval of the chairpersons of the municipality’s Republican and Democratic committees.
"Most redistricting can be a very political issue," said Ms. Fow. "People could potentially not do the best thing."
Without this approval, the county would still review the township’s application, but this show of bipartisan support could influence the decision of the four-member board, which is evenly split along party lines, she said.
The township also would need to submit a written proposal to divide District 1, designating which streets and how many voters would be included in the new district, said Ms. Fow. The number of registered voters, voter turnout, and the adequacy of the polling places would also play a part in the board’s decision, she said.
Ms. Fow said the board most likely would not approve of shifting the lines of the other four township districts, but instead adding a new district or dividing District 1.