Several polling places in Watertown will be moving to a new location for the 2025 Watertown Election. City Councilors had concerns about how voters will know where to go to vote.
Voters in precincts 2, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12 will be casting their ballots at a new location during the Nov. 4, 2025 election. See the chart below for addresses.
The reason for the changes was to move polling places out of the schools, said Adam Brewster, Chair of the Watertown Election Commission.
“We have used schools as polling places in Watertown, as far as I know, for hundreds of years. It has been a good answer to this problem for a long time,” he said. “It is a civics lesson for the children that see that elections are something that happened every year. Adults vote every year, sometimes multiple times. It is an opportunity for PTA bake sales that a lot of people think are important. But at this time it is not a good solution. There are operational problems with trying to conduct an election in a school. One is parking. Two is accessibility. Three is safety concerns.”
While Precincts 4 and 5 vote at Phillips School, the building is used primarily as offices for the Watertown Public Schools administration.
The biggest difficulty is parking, Brewster said.
“This really is a big deal,” he said. “People think that we are trying to prevent them from voting by conducting elections in places where they cannot park.”
Additionally, school security has been stepped up in recent years, and some do not want to have the general public in schools while class is in session, Brewster said.
New Locations
Precinct 2 will move to the Hellenic Center from Hosmer Elementary School. Brewster noted that the hall on Bigelow Avenue was used in the past when Hosmer was under construction.
Precinct 7 is moving to the Northend Fire Station. Brewster said historically the fire station on Orchard Street had been a polling place. Councillors asked if there is parking there, and Brewster said there is a parking lot behind the Fire Station which will not be used by firefighters on election day.
Most recently Precinct 7 voters went to Watertown Middle School but in the past they had gone to Lowell Elementary School. Some have asked for it to move back to the Lowell, but Brewster said it has been three years since the school reopened after construction and they still have not been given access for elections.
Precincts 8 and 9 are moving to the Watertown Library, after previously voting at the Middle School. Brewster said that the Election Commission believes it is a good spot because people know where the Library is and there is parking. City Clerk Noelle Gilligan noted that 10 spaces in the library parking would be reserved for voters on election day, and the meters will be free that day.
The new polling locations for Precincts 11 and 12 will be 100 Warren St., the Munger Apartments. Those precincts used to vote at Cunniff Elementary School. There will be parking reserved for voters in the driveway at the senior housing complex.
Gilligan said will be made to help voters navigate inside the Munger Apartments, as well as be respectful to those who live there.
“We do want to make sure that the residents there do feel safe, as well, which is why we’re having residents monitor the front door and the side door to prevent access coming in from the side door, as well as coming in through the front door,” Gilligan said. “They are also discussing doing day passes for the residents, so all of their day badges — their entrance keys, fobs, if you will — will only work with the day pass to gain entrance into those other areas for that day.”
City Council President Mark Sideris said the City Clerk visited all the new voting locations and the Secretary of State’s office has visited and approved them.
Councilors’ Concerns
City Councilors asked how the changes to polling locations would be communicated to Watertown residents.
The City is legally required to send postcards to residents in areas where a polling location has changed, Brewster said. Other efforts would be made to get word out.
“The City has done a wonderful job recently of improving communication, and so we’re going to look to work with the (City’s) social media coordinator and people who have various lists that they can publish this, too,” Brewster said.
The City should put the same effort into alerting voters about the polling place changes as was put into another recent effort, said Councilor Tony Palomba.
“I don’t know if we could emulate it exactly, but the model that was used around the Republic, notifications on the strike. That was almost a daily notification about what the situation is,” Palomba said. “I really would hope that you would think about a daily communication on this. These are some significant changes.”
Council Vice President Vincent Piccirilli agreed about increasing communication effort.
“We have the the Everbridge system where we can make phone calls. So, can we do that? And lineup message boards that the DPW does,” Piccirilli said. “I think there is a lot more that we can do, and I agree with some of my colleagues, we need to do not just once, but multiple messages, because this is going to be very confusing for people.”
Sideris said he would like the message at the top of the City of Watertown’s website be used to tell people about the changes in voting locations, as it was used for Trash Strike updates.
Councilor Emily Izzo said that some voters might show up at their old polling place out of habit so she suggested putting signs at the former locations that say “Your polling location has been moved to whichever relevant location.” Gilligan said the Clerk’s Office is planning to put up notices at the old locations with info on the new ones.
Councilor John Gannon is concerned about voters in the 55 Waverley senior housing complex.
“The 55 Waverley senior citizen housing has always been across the street from the middle school voting location. Now we’re basically throwing them three quarters a mile away,” Gannon said. “So that’s a big change, and hopefully transportation can be given from 55 Waverley to accommodate those who used to walk across the street.”
2025 Watertown Municipal Election Polling Places
| District | Precinct | Polling Place | Polling Address |
|---|---|---|
| A 1 | Hellenic Cultural Center | 25 Bigelow Avenue |
| A 2 | Hellenic Cultural Center | 25 Bigelow Avenue |
| A 3 | Hellenic Cultural Center | 25 Bigelow Avenue |
| B 4 | Phillips School | 30 Common Street |
| B 5 | Phillips School | 30 Common Street |
| B 6 | Hibernian Hall | 151 Watertown Street |
| C 7 | Northend Fire Station | 270 Orchard Street |
| C 8 | Watertown Free Public Library | 123 Main Street |
| C 9 | Watertown Free Public Library | 123 Main Street |
| D 10 | Watertown Police Station | 552 Main Street |
| D 11 | Munger Apartments | 100 Warren Street |
| D 12 | Munger Apartments | 100 Warren Street |
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, from 7 a.m.-8 p.m. To confirm your precinct location, please go to the Secretary of State’s Where Do I Vote webpage.
Early In-Person Voting will be available at City Hall the following days and times:
Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, 9 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.