The merging of three University-area neighborhood associations will move forward after the Marcy-Holmes community voted strongly in favor of the merger Friday night.

The Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association (MHNA), Southeast Como Improvement Association (SECIA) and Nicollet Island-East Bank Neighborhood Association will become the East Bank Neighborhoods Partnership following the vote. 

Around 90% of Marcy-Holmes residents voted in favor of the MHNA Board of Directors moving forward with the East Bank Neighborhoods Partnership. Marcy-Holmes was the last neighborhood to finish voting, ending at 8 p.m. on Friday.

About 91% of Nicollet Island community members voted to move forward with the merger. Nicollet Island was the first of the three neighborhoods to approve the merger concluding their voting period on Sept. 22, according to the NIEBNA website.

Southeast Como community members approved the merger with a 61% majority, the lowest approval rate of the three neighborhoods. Southeast Como’s lowest approval rate likely stems from a group of Southeast Como community members who campaigned against the merger leading up to the voting. 

Community members started a petition and posted yard signs reading “Keep Como Going” to encourage residents to vote against the merger. The petition argued that merging neighborhood associations would disrupt Southeast Como’s neighborhood autonomy.

In total, 366 community members across all three neighborhoods voted in favor of the association merger and 112 members voted against it, according to the election results.

Both SECIA and MHNA shared an image to X, formerly known as Twitter, Friday night depicting the name “East Bank District,” likely the title of the to-be-merged neighborhood association.

Voting results will be formally accepted by the three neighborhood associations in the next two weeks, according to the MHNA website.