MAHONING COUNTY Board plans to eliminate precincts

The reduction would save the county about $12,000 each election.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Mahoning County Board of Elections plans to eliminate 25 to 30 voting precincts in time for the November general election as a cost-saving measure.
The board hasn't determined which precincts will be eliminated, but the cuts will be based on registered voters and voter turnout, said Thomas P. McCabe, the body's deputy director.
"We have some precincts that had 20 to 25 percent turnout in last year's governor's race that we can target," he said. "Also, we average about 600 voters at each precinct. We might be able to eliminate some precincts below that average."
The precinct reduction plan is expected to be finalized by Sept. 1 so there is enough time to inform residents about changes to voting locations for the Nov. 4 general election, McCabe added.
The board eliminated 25 percent of its precincts in 2001, reducing the number from 416 to 312. Half of the precincts eliminated were in Youngstown.
In 2001, the board sent out two mailers to the county's more than 175,000 registered voters telling them about the precinct changes and included a form at the bottom for voters to request absentee ballots if they couldn't make it to the polls.
Board Chairman Mark E. Munroe said the agency will send mailers to only voters affected by the precinct changes this year.
"This is a marginal, incremental change to fine-tune what we did two years ago," he said.
The reduction in polling places will save the county at least $400 per precinct per election, or $12,000 each election if 30 precincts are eliminated, McCabe and Munroe said.
The reduction also will make it easier for the board to find people to work the polls because fewer workers will be needed, McCabe said.
Touch-screen voting
The change will permit the board to increase the number of electronic touch-screen voting machines at its remaining precincts, McCabe said.
Each precinct has three voting machines, which will be redistributed to the remaining polling locations, he said.
A reduction in precincts also will mean a reduction in the number of precinct committee members for the county's Democratic and Republican parties in the future.
Precinct committee members will not be affected until their four-year terms expire in 2006. At that time, the new precinct boundaries would be implemented for committee members, and the number of committee members would be reduced by the amount of precincts eliminated this year.
Munroe, who also is vice chairman of the county's Republican Party, said he has no problem eliminating 25 to 30 precinct committee seats.
"From a party perspective, it's been hard to recruit committee people in every precinct so this makes it easier for us to fill precincts," Munroe said.
Lisa Antonini, county Democratic chairwoman, said she also supports the board's plan to reduce precincts even though it will mean less Democratic precinct committee members three years from now.
skolnick@vindy.com