Ypsilanti residents living in two 2nd Ward precincts will have a new voting location effective this August following changes implemented by the city clerk.

City Clerk Frances McMullen said the poll change will affect 2,382 voters.

Jeffrey Smith | AnnArbor.com

Second ward registered voters in precincts two and four will now be voting at the Ypsilanti Middle School located at 105 N. Mansfield. Residents previously voted at 1055 Cornell St. in what was once the old Fletcher School but is now the Eastern Michigan University Autism Collaborative Center.

The change is expected to affect 2,382 voters.

City Clerk Frances McMullen said the city has already notified residents. McMullen said city staff looked at 11 possible locations before deciding on the middle school.

McMullen said the university volunteered its student center but the city preferred one of the residence halls.

“They said if we wanted to use any of their properties, it had to be that one,” she said while addressing the Ypsilanti City Counci last week.

McMullen sought public input and residents said they didn’t like that option because of parking having to be validated and reserved. McMullen said logistics-wise, that choice didn’t make sense.

“The number of places that we could choose from were very limited,” she said.

Some council members expressed concern regarding the possible effects the change may have on voters. Council Member Pete Murdock said the 2nd Precinct already has issues with voter turnout.

“It’s a difficult voting precinct anyway because there are a lot of transients there,” Murdock said. “It’s got a lot of students and a high minority population. No one wants to see it made more difficult. We can’t change it now but it’s going to be difficult. It’s a long way to find the school from the other side of Leforge.”

McMullen remarked that student turnout was strong in the 2008 election and that the city has options in terms of transportation for voters.

"We can always keep looking but we didn't want to keep moving around because the school is pretty much permanent," she said.

Aug. 7 is the state primary and and the last day to register to vote in that election was July 9.

Katrease Stafford covers the city of Ypsilanti for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at 734-623-2548 or KatreaseStafford@annarbor.com. You can also follow her on Twitter.