Reading Ward 12-3 Faces 2nd Polling Place Move in a Week

Voters in Reading's Ward 12, Precinct 3 may be told to vote somewhere new for the second time in a week. The Berks County Election Board meets Thursday, Oct. 15, at 11 a.m. to vote on what its agenda calls an "Emergency Temporary Polling Place Change for the 2026 General Election": moving the precinct's polling place from the Olivet Boys and Girls Club, 722 Mulberry St., to 10th & Green Elementary School, 400 N. 10th St. It is the only action item on the agenda.

What changed, and what the agenda does not say

On Oct. 8, the same board approved a permanent move for this precinct, from Grace Bible Fellowship Church, 1128 Hampden Blvd., to the Olivet club. The Reading Eagle reported that the Olivet site was a return to the precinct's permanent polling location and that letters would go to registered voters telling them about the change. Our preview of that meeting covers the Oct. 8 agenda.

Thursday's agenda now lists Olivet as the "From" address and the school as the "To" address, "effective for the 2026 General Election." The agenda gives no reason for the emergency and does not say whether the precinct would return to Olivet after Nov. 3. It also does not say whether the county will send a second letter to voters who may already have received one naming the Olivet club.

As of Thursday morning, the county's own precinct map for Reading 12-3, updated Oct. 8, still lists the Olivet Boys and Girls Club as the polling place, and so does the county's list of polling locations, revised Oct. 8. That list also shows the school is already a polling place: Reading Ward 11, Precinct 2 votes in the 10th & Green School lobby. The county has not posted a notice about the precinct on its Election Services page.

The board has made a late temporary move before. On Oct. 9, 2025, about four weeks before that year's election, it moved Reading Ward 18-4 to a temporary site because its church could not host the election, according to the minutes. Commissioner Leinbach "expressed his concern about making a polling place change close to an Election," and Elections Director Anne Norton said letters would be mailed to voters and signs placed at the old location. The board voted separately on March 5, 2026 to return that precinct to its permanent site. Whether Ward 12-3 gets the same treatment, letters, signs and a later vote to return, is not on Thursday's agenda.

The agenda also calls for approving the minutes of the Oct. 8 meeting and includes the election director's report and board comments on "current election-related issues." The county has not yet posted the Oct. 8 minutes; the board's newest posted minutes are from Sept. 24, when it moved Hamburg Precinct 2 to the Hamburg Field House.

What voters in Ward 12-3 should do

If the board approves the change, the precinct will have changed polling places twice in a week. Do not rely on a letter you have already received. Before Nov. 3, check your assigned location with the state's polling place lookup or call the Office of Election Services at 610-478-6490. Our guide to finding your polling place in Berks County covers poll hours and what to bring.

Voters who would rather not sort out the location can still vote by mail. The county's Election Services page lists Oct. 27 as the deadline to apply for a mail ballot and Oct. 19 as the deadline to update a voter registration. Three drop boxes open Oct. 19, at the Services Center on Court Street, the county's South Campus in Mohnton and Reading Regional Airport. See our guide to voting by mail in Berks County.

When and how to weigh in

The Election Board meets at 11 a.m. Thursday in the 13th-floor Commissioners' Boardroom of the Berks County Services Center, 633 Court St., Reading, right after the county commissioners' 10 a.m. meeting, and online through the link on the meeting notice. Anyone who wants to comment on the agenda item before the vote must tell the chair. Comments are taken in person first, then through the online Q&A, one per person, with a first and last name and municipality; the comment period is limited to 30 minutes unless the county extends it.

The agenda lists Michael S. Rivera as chair, Christian Y. Leinbach as vice chair and Dante Santoni Jr. as the third member, with Anne Norton as chief clerk. The county's agenda file carries a 10:06 a.m. Wednesday timestamp, about 25 hours before the meeting; the copy we fetched at midday Wednesday still showed the Oct. 8 agenda.

Office of Election Services, Berks County Services Center, 1st floor, 633 Court St., Reading, PA 19601; 610-478-6490; Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For every date voters need this fall, see our 2026 Berks County election guide. We will update this story with the board's vote.