AUGUSTA — City voters will go to a single consolidated polling place to cast their votes, although where they vote in Tuesday’s election isn’t where they’ll be voting in future elections.

City councilors voted unanimously Thursday to consolidate voting from the city’s four ward-based polling places to the Augusta Civic Center, citing problems with some of the ward voting sites, concerns about the increasing difficulty of finding enough qualified election workers to work the polls at four locations, and in hopes that having voting at one place will make elections more efficient.

But the change isn’t slated to take place until the fall elections in November. City councilors previously voted to consolidate Tuesday’s election, in which Augusta voters will decide whether to approve the school budget, but that vote was to consolidate the polls at Augusta City Center, not the Augusta Civic Center.

So while future elections will be at the Augusta Civic Center at 76 Community Drive, Tuesday’s will not. It will be at City Center at 16 Cony St.

No matter where the polls are consolidated, concerns remain that putting polls in a central location and not at locations in each of the city’s four wards could make it harder for some to get to the polls, especially elderly residents who don’t drive, in a city with little to no public transportation.

“Maine is the oldest state in the country,” Ben Bussiere said to city elected officials, noting his grandparents don’t drive and so their family members have to make arrangements to help them vote. “I just think about that micro case and our experience, and how much that extrapolates throughout the state of Maine to not just the micro level, but the macro level. I do think (consolidating polls) could have implications for voters, specifically who are in the older demographic.”

At-Large Councilor Stephanie Sienkiewicz voted to consolidate polls knowing it’s not a perfect solution, she said. There are plans for councilors to discuss, before the next election, offering residents transportation to and from the consolidated polls so they can vote, even if they can’t drive.

She said that could include a partnership with Kennebec Valley Community Action Program to provide a bus, or the city offering some type of transportation service to voters on Election Day. She said the issues with the city’s current polling places meant the city needed to take action, despite lingering concerns that consolidating the polls could make it harder for some residents to get to the polls.

“I’m still concerned about the issues caused by this action, but the issues we’re dealing with at our current polling places remain and are pretty sticky,” Sienkiewicz said. “I think what we’re looking for in terms of increasing transportation accessibility for people will hopefully offset whatever actions we take that would make it more difficult for people to access polling places when we move to the Civic Center.”

Councilors have previously rejected similar consolidation proposals.

However, in a previous memorandum to councilors, City Clerk Kelly Gooldrup recommended city officials consolidate all future voting at the city-owned Civic Center.

Gooldrup said some of the city’s four ward polling places lack adequate accessibility for people with disabilities or mobility problems, have inadequate parking, allow adults coming into Cony High School and Buker Community Center to vote to be in contact with children, and require having four sets of voting equipment.

Kevin Lamoreau, a former school board member who often weighs in on voting-related issues in Augusta, said he supports consolidating the polls because he’s tired of problems that have come up with the four dispersed voting sites, including instances of vote counting being delayed or even misreported and confusion for some voters about which ward site was where they should vote.

The city’s four voting locations were: Ward 1 — Buker Community Center, 22 Armory St.; Ward 2 — Augusta City Center, 16 Cony St.; Ward 3 — Augusta Civic Center, 76 Community Drive; and Ward 4 — Cony High School, 40 Pierce Drive.