Number of precincts to be cut still undecided

The Mahoning County Board of Elections will decide Tuesday how many voting precincts will be eliminated as part of cost-cutting move.

The board met this morning for more than 2 1/2 hours to discuss various scenarios to save money.

The members agree on a plan to reduce costs that include laying off two employees and cutting the hourly salary of part-timers from $9 to $8.

The disagreement is over how many voting precincts will be cut.

The two Republican board members favor a plan to eliminate 29 of the county’s 287 precincts. The two Democrats support a proposal to reduce the number of precincts by 14, and are considering getting rid of no precincts.

The 29-precinct plan would keep voters in all but 2 precincts at their current polling locations, though Republicans are willing to take those two out of the proposal. The 14-precinct plan keeps all voters at their current polling locations.

For the complete story, read Saturday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com