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Town and UConn officials say early voting at campus bookstore will proceed; staff to follow up on bookstore renovation and poll-worker logistics
Summary
Town and university representatives confirmed early voting will again be hosted at the University of Connecticut bookstore under state law, but town poll workers raised concerns about renovation timing, potential bookstore employee overtime, and poll-worker parking; UConn staff said they expect no disruption and will follow up with details.
The Mansfield–University liaison committee on Thursday confirmed that early voting will be hosted at the University of Connecticut bookstore this fall, and university and town officials said they will follow up on logistics after poll workers raised concerns about space, staffing and parking.
“It's required by state statute,” said Nathan, a town staff member who led the update, noting the university and town had collaborated on prior elections. UConn representative Sean said the campus will host early voting again and that university staff are coordinating with registrars and town election officials to ensure access.
Town poll workers told the committee they had received a notice indicating the bookstore’s footprint may be reduced as part of renovations and that bookstore staff requested overtime pay if the store must staff the community room beyond regular hours. “We want to make sure that it remains a situation where we are not charging the town of Mansfield for rent or for salaries or overtime of any kind,” a registrar said.
UConn staff acknowledged the bookstore footprint is changing and said the space currently used for community activities is managed by the bookstore operator and Barnes & Noble, but that university planners were developing alternatives. “We’ve already started thinking about alternatives and ideas,” Sean said, adding that he expected no impact to the fall voting schedule and would follow up with a short list of viable options.
Poll workers also asked for clarity about parking and whether early voting in August — when fewer students are on campus — will attract sufficient turnout; committee members agreed to debrief after the August early-voting period and potentially seek additional state guidance if turnout is low. “We’ll follow up,” Sean said. “We’ll confirm as we follow up.”
The committee did not vote on any change to the polling location at the meeting. Town and university staff agreed to return with a clarified plan on staffing, parking and timing before the next election cycle.
