Crime & Safety

84-Year-Old Voter Suffers 'Minor' Head Injury in Fall at Lawrence Township Polling Location

Voting in Tuesday's election for four Lawrence Township districts was moved to the township EMS building this year because of the hall of Lawrence Road Fire Co. firehouse next door has been closed since a mold problem was discovered over the summer.

An elderly Lawrence Township woman suffered a head injury when she fell off a raised sidewalk while on her way to vote at the township’s Emergency Medical Services building during yesterday’s (Nov. 8) General Election.

Voting for Lawrence Township Districts 3, 6, 8 and 11 was moved to the EMS building on Pilla Avenue this year because the hall of the Lawrence Road Fire Co. firehouse next door – where voting traditionally takes place – has been closed since a mold problem was discovered there over the summer.  

The township used its “Reverse 911” notification system over the weekend to notify voters of the change in polling location.

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Numerous signs were also set up in and around the firehouse parking lot to direct voters to the EMS building, while a portable light tower was borrowed from the Mercer County Park Commission to illuminate the parking lot during the evening hours before the polls closed at 8 p.m.

Authorities said the 84-year-old Gainsboro Road resident was walking toward the EMS building from the firehouse parking lot when she apparently became distracted by someone behind her and she did not see that there was a drop of about 2 feet or so from the sidewalk level to the ramp of one of the ambulance bays.

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The woman stepped off the sidewalk and fell, striking her head shortly before 9 a.m., authorities said. She was transported by ambulance to Capital Health Regional Medical Center for treatment of the injury, which authorities described as "minor" and not life-threatening.

After the woman was rushed away by the ambulance, township officials used warning cones, trash cans and yellow “Police Line” tape to create a barricade in an effort to prevent others from falling off the sidewalk.

An election worker said a second voter also fell at the EMS building on Tuesday but that could not be confirmed.

Authorities did, however, confirm that some of the bulbs on the light tower burned out prior to the close of the polls, leaving some parts of the firehouse parking lot in darkness.

Cleanup of the mold and repairs to the firehouse could cost as much as $50,000 in addition to $10,000 already spent, township officials have said.

The township had put out a request for bids for for “mold remediation, repair and waterproof sealing of damaged exterior stucco and installation of new interior wallboard at the Lawrence Road firehouse” but no bids were submitted by the Oct. 28 deadline.

Should no one again submit a bid or bids come back higher than expected, the township legally can then negotiate a contract with a contractor to do the necessary work.


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