Changes Made to Voter Precincts

Some residents of Wakefield will end up voting in different places in the next election because of changes made to the town’s precinct map by the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s office.

The changes, approved at the June 13 Board of Selectmen meeting, came about because of the latest population numbers that were collected in the 2010 census. The Massachusetts Secretary of State’s office looks at each precinct to ensure that numbers among them are about equal.

Town Administrator Stephen Maio said that Wakefield is "lucky" because all Board of Selectmen members are elected “at-large,” meaning any changes to precincts will not change who is represented by whom. The changes to the precinct boundaries will also not affect representation at the state level, so those citizens represented by Representative Donald Wong (R-Saugus) and Representative Paul Brodeur (R-Melrose) will retain those legislators.

The changes include residents of Rosemary Avenue, Orsini Drive, Roosevelt Road and a small number of Montrose Avenue switching from Precinct 1 to Precinct 2, residents on Linden Road, Laurel Street, Hawthorne Street, Meriam Street and Robert Street will move from Precinct 4 to Precinct 5, and residents of the northerly side of West Water Street will move to Precinct 6 instead of Precinct 5.

The only essential outcome for residents affected by the change will the requirement to vote at a new polling place. Those are:

• Precincts 1 and 7 — , 372 Salem St.
• Precincts 2 and 3 — , 71 Preston St.
• Precinct 4 — , 1155 Main St.
• Precincts 5 and 6 — , 4 Harrington Ct.
• If you're unsure, changes will be updated here once they go into effect: Type in your address here to see your exact polling place. 

“There will be a little bit of shifting around, but overall this is fairly minimal,” said Maio. “It could have been much more draconian.”

The changes will go into effect on Dec. 31, 2011. Affected residents will be notified of the changes by mail.