PARKCHESTER — Voters at the Parckchester Condominiums were confused and discouraged from casting their ballots by changed polling locations and poor directions, residents said.
Linnie Ewing, who has lived in the complex for roughly 20 years, said that it is normally filled with signs telling voters where to go on election days, but they have been largely absent for Tuesday's primary.
This is the first time that voting has been this confusing in the condos, making her nervous that people who do not have much time to cast their ballot will just skip the process, she said.
"If they're in a rush somewhere, they're just going to go somewhere," she said. "They're not going to vote."
Ruth Bowman, a 25-year resident of the complex, agreed, saying that the building she had always voted in was not where she was supposed to vote this time, and when she went there, there were no signs telling her where she should go instead.
"I think it's really a disaster," she said. "I think they really don't want people to vote."
There are several buildings in the Parkchester Condominium complex, and residents of different buildings will have to vote at different locations, according to the Board of Elections' website.
If a resident lives at 1560 Unionport Rd., for example, he or she is supposed to vote in JHS 127 at 1560 Purdy St., but if a resident lives at 1595 Unionport Rd., he or she is supposed to vote at 1563 Metropolitan Ave., a building within the complex.
However, a resident who actually lives in 1563 Metropolitan Ave. will have to vote at JHS 127, according to the BOE website.
Alexia Esannason, who has lived in the complex for more than 30 years, said she went to three places on Tuesday trying to cast her ballot.
"This is important," she said, "and for them to keep moving it around every year, it’s ridiculous."
The Board of Elections did not respond to a request for comment.
Edna T. Lambert, who has lived in the complex for about 14 years, said on Tuesday afternoon that she had been sent to three different voting locations so far but would not give up on trying to cast her ballot, even though she did not need the extra walking.
"I don't need the exercise because I exercise every day," she said. "I have the equipment to do that."
