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Mahoning elections board eliminates 35 precincts, most in Youngstown
YOUNGSTOWN
The Mahoning County Board of Elections agreed to reduce 32 voting precincts in Youngstown and three in Struthers for the May 5 primary with what its director called “very minimal changes” to voters.
The plan would consolidate precincts at existing polling locations, but there could be a small number of people who will end up voting in a new location, Director Joyce Kale-Pesta said Tuesday.
“My main goal [with the consolidation] is to not change polling locations,” she said.
The board voted 4-0 Tuesday on the 35-precinct consolidation.
Each precinct reduced saves the county about $1,200 to $1,500 per election, board officials say.
The number of precincts in Youngstown went from 77 to 45, leaving the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Wards with six precincts each, and the 5th, 6th and 7th Wards with seven precincts each.
In Struthers, one precinct in the 1st, 2nd and 4th Wards were eliminated. That leaves that city with 12 precincts — three in each of its four wards.
As it stands, Boardman has the most voting precincts in the county with 47, and Austintown isn’t too far behind with 40 precincts.
However, board officials say they expect to reduce precincts in both of those townships as well as other communities including Campbell and Poland Township in time for the November general election. The cuts were made now in Youngstown and Struthers because the two are the only communities in the county with primaries for ward council seats in May.
George Freeman Jr., president of the NAACP’s Youngstown unit, objected to the reduction, which has been discussed for two years, saying, “I think it’s too fast to reduce precincts” because “there’s already enough confusion” among voters.
Freeman also said, “It makes me think it will suppress the vote eliminating so many precincts in the city. People don’t accept change easily.”
Board Chairman Mark Munroe, also the county Republican Party chairman, said, “Just because boundaries change doesn’t mean polling locations are changing.” He added: “The disruption of voters is very minimal.”
Also, board officials said the county needed to reduce the number of precincts 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.