Elections board plans to combine polling precincts

One elections board member has said that the city should eventually lose 25 of its 59 voting precincts.

STAFF report

WARREN — Some voters may vote in a new polling precinct but not in a new polling location this November as part of an ongoing effort to save money.

The Trumbull County Board of Elections has asked its staff to recommend a list of precincts that could be temporarily combined for the Nov. 3 general election.

The project would involve polling locations that have more than one precinct at the same location, said Kelly Pallante, elections board director.

Therefore, the consolidation will not cause any voter to vote at a new location, Pallante said.

Pallante believes as many as 65 to 80 voting precincts can be eliminated for the election, decreasing the number of poll workers needed by 260 to 320.

That translates into a savings of about $30,000 to $40,000, she said. Each precinct costs around $500 per election in worker salary and training.

It is possible to eliminate precincts for this November’s election because relatively few voters turn out for odd-year general elections, Pallante said.

The elections board eliminated 23 precincts permanently in the spring — reducing the number from 273 to 250 — by analyzing precincts with small numbers of registered voters.

The goal of the newest consolidation will be to make sure no precinct has more than 1,400 registered voters, Pallante said.

There are 59 precincts in the city of Warren, Pallante noted, and some of them have as few as 300 to 400 registered voters, she said.

In the spring, one precinct each was eliminated in the cities of Niles, Girard and Hubbard, and four were eliminated in Brookfield, one in Champion, one in Fowler, one in Hartford, two in Howland, two in Hubbard Township, one in Kinsman, five in Liberty, one in Southington and two in Weathersfield.

Ron Knight, one of the four elections board members, said last spring that as many as 25 precincts should eventually be eliminated in Warren.