Some voters in Allenstown wound up at the wrong voting location after the town switched from St. John the Baptist Church to Allenstown Elementary School, which is now unoccupied.

Allenstown town moderator Judy Silva said the town made sure to publicize the information in advance, posting signs at Town Hall, in front of the elementary school, and by the church. They also shared the new location online, albeit not on the homepage of the town website.

“It’s always hard when you change locations and you’ve been somewhere for a while,” Silva said. “We’ve had a sign by the road out front of the school saying for over a month that voting’s going to be here. When the Secretary of State sends out emails, I’ve shared those to local Facebook groups and shared that we’re not at the parish hall but at Allenstown Elementary School.”

Despite the town’s efforts, some residents did not learn about the change until they went to go vote. Janine Mercier said she felt upset that the information wasn’t more accessible.

“I thought it was at the church. I had to go around the block a couple times until I saw the sign,” Mercier said.

Lucille Fortin knew where to vote but only because she asked someone who told her to go to the elementary school.

“It was word of mouth. I didn’t see it anywhere written, though,” Fortin added.

For Diane Stone, the new location did not pose a problem. She said she saw the information about the change posted by the school and by the church for a while.

“No confusion for me,” Stone said. “It was in and out, everything was set up perfect.”

Knowing both the church and the school were possible locations, Bob Staples and his wife turned to the internet for answers.

“We Googled it and even Google didn’t know where, either, just what time,” he said. “We went there then came here. There’s a sign on the door of the Baptist Church but you can’t see it front the street.”

To verify where to go, Rachelle Newcomb called a friend who lives across the street from the elementary school.

“She looked out the window and said it was here. I’d heard a rumor it was here but wasn’t sure.”

Despite the confusion, Silva said there was a steady flow of people voting throughout the morning.

“Luckily the two locations are not too far away from each other and there’s a sign, so if people come there they’ll see the sign to come here instead,” Silva said.

Rachel Wachman can be reached at rwachman@cmonitor.com.