Riverside Church on East Michigan Avenue – formerly Three Rivers High School – has been chosen to serve as the central polling location in Three Rivers.
Riverside Church – located at 207 East Michigan Avenue in Three Rivers – has been chosen by the Three Rivers City Commission as the site for a central polling place for all four voting precincts in the city.
That was the end point of conversation Tuesday evening (September 1st) as commissioners selected Riverside Church on a 5-to-2 vote.
Mayor Allen Balog joined Commissioners Ken Baker, Elbert Foster, Carolyn McNary and Earl Stark in voting “yes.” “No” votes were cast by Commissioners Ken Cochran and Daryl Griffith.
At one point, it appeared the matter would be tabled – until Foster said, “Let’s try it for a year and see what happens and, if it don’t work anyway, try something different.” Foster’s sentiment in favor of giving Riverside Church a try turned into a motion supported by Baker.
Prior to the vote, Balog said, “Even after this vote, I would suggest the commission still does a walk-through” of the church building “in the very near future.” And he said, “We can always come back and undo this if we felt it was absolutely necessary. If it meets what we’re looking for in our walk-through, we don’t have to come back and re-hash this all over again.”
Balog asked City Manager Joe Bippus to arrange commissioner tours of Riverside Church and said, “I think our number one concern is accommodating a large turnout and I think they will have the answers.” Bippus agreed and said, “I’m sure that building is big enough to accommodate an election.”
Following a public hearing during their August 18th meeting, commissioners voted 4-to-3 to switch to a single polling place, but the location was left to be determined later. At the time, Bippus reported that Riverside Church had expressed interest in serving in that role.
City Clerk Lindsay Howes is looking toward implementing the new approach for conducting elections in May 2010.
The ability to save money by utilizing a single location for voting is a key driver behind the change, but other factors are also involved.
For additional insights about the Riverside Church building, click here to access a River Country Journal story posted in advance of a “grand opening” held in April of this year.
Editor’s Note: This story was expanded at 2:27 p.m. 9-2-09 to add the picture of Riverside Church and the link to the mid-April story about the “grand opening.”
Since there is to be a separation of church and state, I’m a little taken aback by the use of a church as a central polling place. Politicians are not allowed to politic at a polling site and hope we don’t have to suffer through an array of proselytizing materials to vote. Frankly, I believe I will you an absentee ballot.
As brought up in the August 18th meeting the county election official said a church can be used as a legal voting facility. Hopefully Riverside church will be sensitive to the preferences of the community when it comes to proselytizing materials.
I absolutely object to this. I should not have to step into a “christian” institution to do my civic duty. I really wish the city commission would listen to all it’s citizens, not just the ones who are free on Tuesday nights!
Nobody told me about this change, so I of course showed up to the middle school where I have voted for years…only to rush home to find out where I am supposed to go. Riverside Church??? Really??? I tried them once….was highly uncomfortable due to being asked for contributions to build their church to grand proportions. We even were treated to a video about the millions it would take, and that certain families had given 10k. I will not be voting in a church. It is offensive.
Not happy please don’t let that deter you. We are far better off if you go there and vote against the people who made that decision to put it there in the first place.
Commisioners Griffith and Cochran were the two dissenting votes on this issue. I don’t like going to Riverside either, but I will still exercise the right that many people died for. I am hoping that the commission reviews this and returns the polling place to a secular institution.
Not happy-
as a member of Riverside i can tell you that i know no one was forced or coerced into contributing. the church certainly hasnt been built to grand proportions as it is ALL used to serve the community in many ways..certainly not just our congregation. I have yet to see a community organization that gives to the ppl of the county like they do.
Good point Chris. For some reason I had thought Daryl had voted Yes on this when I posted my response. And there was no one else to vote against on this particular matter in this particular election.
Gramsey is correct though. There is not problem here with any violation of the “separation” clause in the 1st Amendment.
See this for more info on this subject
U.S. District Court allows voting in churches
http://www.iheu.org/node/2754 – This link goes back to the International Humanist and Ethical Union’s web site.
If you are interested in discussing this subject more there are quite a few posts about it on the Liberty1st forum
http://www.liberty1st.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2458
What was wrong with using the Library or the COA center behind the Library? The High school gym or middle school both open out so not to interrupt classes. The biggest complaint I have heard is a lot of people did not know where to vote.