30-04-2025
Thousands of GR voters will soon have new polling spot after city commission vote
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The Grand Rapids City Commission voted Tuesday to approve an ordinance that eliminates 15 voting precincts and will change the polling locations for thousands of voters.
Following a public hearing Tuesday evening, commissioners passed the changes with a 6-1 vote. The only no vote came from 3rd Ward Commissioner Kelsey Perdue, who said she wanted to consider alternatives and was concerned the changes could have unintended consequences for parts of the community.
'My concern with this proposal is the disparate impact it will have on some parts of our community,' Perdue said in a morning meeting ahead of the evening vote, adding that she wants to know more about the 21,700 voters who will soon have a new polling location. 'I see a huge blind spot on who this will impact.'
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Grand Rapids City Clerk Joel Hondorp previously told News 8 that this past election, around 42,000 people voted in-person on Election Day, compared to the nearly 35,000 that voted absentee and the near 20,000 that voted early. He said those numbers sparked the proposed precinct changes.
The ordinance decreases the number of precincts in the city from 74 to 59. Wards 1 and 2 will each have 20 precincts, while Ward 3 has 19. Of the 15 eliminated precincts, three are in Ward 1, five are in Ward 2 and seven are in Ward 3.
With the changes, about 21,700 voters — 13% of all voters — will have a new polling location, according to a Tuesday morning presentation from the city clerk. Some of the precincts set to be consolidated already have the same polling location. Other combinations will mean some will vote in a new location.
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Some precincts will not be combined but will have their polling location moved to another spot within the precinct. Polling locations that will no longer be used — whether due to those moves or due to precinct combinations — are Shawmut Hills and GRCC M-Tec in Ward 1, East Leonard and Aquinas College in Ward 2, and Sigsbee, Mulick Park, Adams Park Apartments and Boston Square Church in Ward 3.
Before heading to the polls, voters should check their polling location at to see if it has changed.
— News 8's Adriana Doria contributed to this report.
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