Mahoning elections board reduces polling places, disqualifies a candidate
YOUNGSTOWN
With 32 fewer voting precincts in Youngstown starting with the May primary, there will also be fewer places to cast ballots in the city.
The Mahoning County Board of Elections approved a plan Friday to have 13 voting locations in Youngstown, down from 18.
Two polling locations in the 1st Ward have only one precinct in each, but the 11 others have multiple precincts.
“We don’t need all of the polling locations we have because there are some that had very few voters,” said Joyce Kale-Pesta, board director.
The board agreed last month to reduce precincts in Youngstown from 77 to 45, effective with the May 5 primary. The reduction was done because Mahoning County has the lowest average number of voters per precinct — 623 — among the state’s 13 most-populous counties.
Even with the reduction of 35 precincts, Mahoning is still No. 1 among those counties with about 715 voters per precinct. The state average is 827 voters per precinct.
The original plan had a single precinct — Martin Luther King.
Struthers, the other city in the county with a primary election, had its voting precincts reduced last month from 15 to 12.
After the primary, the board will look at the rest of the county to reduce precincts with a focus on Boardman, Austintown, Campbell and Poland, Kale-Pesta said.
The board also certified the candidates and issues for the May 5 primary, and disqualified one candidate.
Read details of their actions in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.