Who Created This Petition?

Hi! We are Lani Sommer-Padilla, Stephanie Roth-Goldberg, and Mariana Horta. Mariana is Gigi’s mom, a second grader at Nishuane; Stephanie’s children both attend Nishuane (K and 2nd grade); and Lani’s children attend Glenfield (6th grade) and Montclair High School (9th grade).

We started this petition to show community support for relocating polling places so our schools can remain open on election days—something Montclair parents and caregivers have advocated for many years.

The Board of Education has already identified ADA-accessible alternative polling locations and shared them with the Essex County Board of Elections. These sites would replace school buildings without changing election districts, reducing accessibility, or increasing staffing needs. As with any location change, some voters may be closer to their new polling place and others slightly farther.

This petition is hosted on montclairasks.org, our platform for local civic “asks” that avoids third-party petition sites, which monetize user data.

We will never sell your information or spam you. If you opted in for “news and updates,” we’ll contact you only with major developments about moving elections out of school buildings.