St. Ann Polling Place In Bristol Staying Put

Despite what you may have heard, the polling place at St. Ann Worship Site in Bristol Borough is not moving in 2020.

Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie confirmed this week that the polling place at the former Dorrance Street parish that was merged with the St. Mark parish will remain open as a polling place for the primary and general elections this year. The parish has stepped up to cover the several hundred dollar insurance policy required for the polling place.

“For this year, everything stay status quo. I know that makes the people here and everyone happy,” Harvie said told Bristol Borough Council on Monday.

On Thursday, the Bucks County Board of Elections – made up of commissioners Harvie, Diane Ellis-Marseglia, and Gene DiGirolamo – cemented the decision at their Thursday meeting.

The fate of the St. Ann polling place was up in the air recently after recent comments at the Bucks County Commissioners meeting earlier this month placed doubt on its future. The commissioners said the county wanted to cut the cost of paying for insurance at Catholic churches that host voting spots. St. Ann was the only location in the lower end of the county, but there were several additional voting locations that will be impacted in Central Bucks County.

The St. Ann polling place hosts Bristol Borough South 1, Bristol Borough South 2, and Bristol Borough South 3. The other two polling places are at the Ancient Order of the Hibernians on Corson Streets and Bristol Borough High School on Wilson Avenue.

Commissioner Chairwoman Diane Ellis-Marseglia said last week that the problem with using Catholic churches is the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has required an insurance policy costing as much as $1,600 for some polling places at parishes. The cost to insure the St. Ann site is much less and comes in at a few hundred dollars, which the county has helped cover in the past.

Other polling locations in the county only receive a state-mandated $75 fee for the year. The Catholic facilities are the only ones that require additional insurance.

Harvie said an incident in Montgomery County some years ago led to the archdiocese requiring insurance for polling places after they were stuck paying a seven-figure settlement following a lawsuit. The neighboring county stopped using parishes as polling place at that time, while Bucks County continued to use some Catholic facilities.

Bristol Borough Council President Ralph DiGuiseppe raised concern that moving the polling place out of the St. Ann site could have a negative impact on longtime voters who often walked to the site.

The county and the archdiocese continue to work toward a long-term solution, Harvie said.

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