The Eastchester School Board is being accused of voter suppression.

The accusations come after a resolution to re-open a polling site closed during the pandemic failed.

Now voters will only have one polling location in the upcoming school board election on May 17.

"I'm just really shocked that the Board of Education would choose to disenfranchise the residents of Garth Road," says Barry Kramer, president of the Garth Road Cooperative Council.

He and many of his neighbors are upset the Eastchester School Board will not be reopening their polling location at Garth Road Community Center.

"It's always been here, what the Board of Education has done is removed the ability from the Garth Road residents to vote here on Garth Road," Kramer says.

The Eastchester School Board took up the measure to reopen the polling site at a special meeting on Monday.

It failed to get enough votes and board members remain divided.

"We've been talking about it over the year, about getting back to normal. This is what normal looks like," says Eastchester Board of Education secretary Steve Projansky.

Some board members abstained from the vote or voted no, because they say new residents might find it confusing and that polling sites should be distributed more equitably.

"I think we need to look at that more holistically across the district, that is what I'm saying and that is what I'm concerned about the inequity about it," says board member Chrissy Geaga.

The polling location is crucial to voters in the densely populated neighborhood full of young families and senior citizens.

There are 2,000 residences along Garth Road, which make up 16% of the town's registered voters.

Without what some say is a convenient polling location, there are concerns that voter turnout will be low at the next election.

The Eastchester School District provided News 12 a statement that says the Garth Road polling location will not be available for the upcoming district election on May 17 and added the board will take up the discussion at a future meeting.