Redistricting errors impact Greenfield primary

The Greenfield clerk's office is under the gun as it races to fix a redistricting snafu that could turn Feb. 21 primary election day into a nightmare for voters and poll workers.

The problem is that the boundaries state legislators drew in redistricting following the 2010 U.S. Census don't match up in some places with local maps. As a result, some voters are not in the right wards or districts.

To fix the problem, the clerk's office must move 5,000 voters one by one into the proper wards, City Clerk Jennifer Goergen told the Greenfield Common Council on Tuesday night.. That's a big job - one she isn't sure can be completed by a Jan. 31 deadline tied to the printing of election-related documents.

Goergen emphasized that the problem is not a local mistake. It came about because state legislators relied on census blocks to draw their maps. Those blocks have been found to be inaccurate all over the state.

If things aren't put right, voters could come to the polls for the Feb. 21 primary election and not be listed in the right poll book, Goergen said. They could re-register at the polls, though, she suggested.