Around New England

Cape Selectman Tries To Ditch Church As Polling Place Because It’s A Church

January 9, 2020

A member of the Brewster Board of Selectmen tried to persuade fellow board members to move the town’s polling place of almost 20 years because it is a church.

“I just believe that there should be the separation of church and state,” Cynthia Bingham, a selectman, told The Cape Cod Times on Wednesday, January 8.

The town began using Brewster Baptist Church because there wasn’t enough parking at town hall.

A majority of the board decided Monday, January 6 to keep the town’s polling place where it is, according to The Cape Cod Times.

Using a church for elections is common on Cape Cod, where at least five towns have polling places at one. In Brewster, voting takes place in a church hall, not in the sanctuary.

Bingham said she wants assurances that if the town builds a community center it will move voting there instead of continuing to have it at the church, according to The Cape Cod Times.