Reduction of Mahoning County voting precincts delayed till 2015

YOUNGSTOWN

Mahoning County Board of Elections officials will postpone a plan — discussed since early 2013 — to reduce the number of voting precincts by the Nov. 4 general election.

Instead, the board will wait until early next year to cut about 50 of its 273 precincts in time for the May 2015 primary, said Director Joyce Kale-Pesta.

The delay was caused by Youngstown’s ward-redistricting issues, said Kale-Pesta and board Vice Chairman David Betras.

About 20 of the precincts to be cut are in Youngstown, Kale-Pesta said.

After a year of on-again, off-again discussions, Youngstown City Council has an agreement in place on a ward-redistricting plan and is expected to vote on it — put together with a lot of assistance from the board of elections — sometime this month.

But that doesn’t give the board of elections enough time to put together its plan to reduce voting precincts in the county, Kale-Pesta said.

Another reason for concern is a possible charter amendment on the Nov. 4 ballot to reduce the number of wards in Youngstown from seven to five, she said.

Read more about the matter in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.