Polling places in Montgomery County for next month's Primary Election have been consolidated. During an Election Board Meeting, the county's Board of Commissioners voted Monday to reduce the number of voting locations for the June 2 Primary.

            The measure, necessitated during the current COVID-19 pandemic, reduces the number of polling places from 352 to 140. All new locations are at schools.

            The buildings – which are currently not in use -- provides the least chance of coronavirus exposure to any individual not directly involved in Election Day activities, according to Commission Vice Chair Kenneth E. Lawrence, Jr.

            "School buildings are also uniquely equipped to handle the number of voters we may see on Election Day and provide adequate parking and space for social distancing," Lawrence said in the prepared statement provided by Teresa Harris, the board's Public Affairs Manager.

            Lawrence added that, after the election, all buildings will be sanitized and left in the same condition as before Election Day.

            East Greenville residents who usually utilize the Open Link will cast their ballots at the Upper Perkiomen 4^th & 5^th Grade Center, located at 510 Jefferson St. in the borough. Pennsburg residents – who usually vote at the municipal building – will also be redirected to the 4^th & 5^th Grade Center.

            Red Hill residents will vote at the Upper Perkiomen High School, located at 2 Walt Road. Green Lane residents will cast their ballots at the Marlborough Elementary School, located at 1415 Gravel Pike in the township.

            Voters in Upper Hanover will need to attend three different schools in three separate municipalities. Residents in Precinct 1 who usually vote at the Upper Perkiomen Education Center will need to go to the high school. Precinct 2 residents who normally vote at the township building must utilize Marlborough Elementary, while voters in Precinct 3 who normally vote at the Palm Schwenkfelder Church House have been redirected to the district's 4& 5 Grade Center. 

            Officials in the Upper Perkiomen School District did not volunteer the locations, according to Raeann Hofkin, President of the school board. She wrote in a text Tuesday morning that county officials told them their buildings would be used. 

            Additionally, the district requested that the county move its voting location from the high school to its new middle school due to plans on June 2 for seniors to pick up the contents of their lockers and return their devices.

             "We don't know if the move will be approved," Hofkin wrote. 

             In Douglass, voters in Precinct 1 will vote at Boyertown Middle School East, located at 2020 Big Road in New Hanover. Voters in the township's other three precincts are directed to Gilbertsville Elementary School, located at 36 Congo Road.

            In New Hanover, voters have been moved to three separate schools. Precinct 1 – those who usually vote at St Paul's Lutheran Church – will cast their votes at Boyertown Middle School East. Residents in Precinct 2 – who usually vote at the New Hanover Lutheran Church – have been directed to New Hanover Upper Frederick Elementary, located at 2547 Big Road. Precinct 3 residents – who usually cast their ballots at the New Hanover Fire Company – will go to Pottsgrove High School, located on Kauffman Road in Lower Pottsgrove township.

            In Upper Frederick, all residents will vote at New Hanover Upper Frederick Elementary. In Lower Frederick, residents who usually vote at the township's fire company will go to the Schwenksville Elementary School, located at 55 Second St. in the borough. Citizens who usually cast their ballots at the municipal building will use the Perkiomen Valley Middle School, located at 220 Big Road.

            In Upper Salford, voters have been instructed to cast their ballots at the Salford Hills Elementary School, located on Barndt Road.

            In Lower Salford, voters in precinct 1, 2 and 3 will be consolidated at the Indian Valley Middle School 130 Maple Ave. Voters in precincts 4, 5 and 6 will utilize Oak Ridge Elementary School, located at 465 Moyer Road.