Redistricting Causes Polling Location Mix-ups In Tiverton, LC Runs Smooth On Tuesday

Despite confusion over where to go to cast a vote for some Tiverton residents and an hour-long closure of Bulgarmarsh road, more than 55 percent of registered voters turned up on Election Day, according to unofficial estimates.

Redistricting shuffled district lines and added a new polling precinct, but Town Clerk Nancy Mello reported the elections continued with relative smoothness throughout the day. Extra volunteers manned the tables to reroute misinformed voters at each of the town's nine polling precincts (Tiverton Town Hall served as the locale for two precincts.)

"Most people have been understanding and just a few people have been irate," Mello said around 1 p.m. on Tuesday.

Mello said multiple mailings were sent home to warn voters about changes in polling venues and district lines after the redistricting efforts that occur every decade following the release of census data.

Cars were slowed to a stand-still on Bulgarmarsh Road for about an hour on Tuesday afternoon after a car crashed into a telephone pole where the road intersects Floral Way.

The crash, which snapped the pole to cause the road blockage, occurred in between the Ranger School and Tiverton High School polls and the Sandywoods precinct. Fire crews worked to clear the roads and restore 

"In all it's been pretty smooth," Mello said.

All of Little Compton's 3,100 voters reported to the Wilbur-McMahon School to cast their ballots on Tuesday. Lines were long and turnout climbing at 6 p.m., but voters waited patiently for their turn.

Little Compton Town Clerk Carol Wordell expedited the lines to keep wait times to a minimum. 

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