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Mahoning elections board plans to cut 26 more precincts
YOUNGSTOWN
The Mahoning County Board of Elections plans to further cut the number of voting precincts, eliminating 26 of them in time for the November general election.
The board’s proposal calls for these reductions:
Austintown: From 40 to 33.
Boardman: From 47 to 37.
Poland Township: From 16 to 13.
Campbell: From 11 to 9.
Canfield city: From 10 to 8.
Beaver: From 8 to 7.
Milton: From 3 to 2.
This will leave the county with 212 voting precincts, slightly less than half of the 416 precincts in the county 15 years ago.
The board will have a public hearing at 5 p.m. Wednesday at its office in Oakhill Renaissance Place, 345 Oak Hill Ave., to discuss the planned changes.
Earlier this year, the board eliminated 32 precincts in Youngstown and three in Struthers. Those reductions were done in only those two cities because they had primaries May 5.
Though precincts are being reduced, only a few polling locations are being eliminated, said Thomas McCabe, the board’s deputy director.
“Some voters will change locations, but that’s not unusual from election to election because we don’t always use the same places for voting,” he said.
The reduction also will save about $1,000 to $1,200 per precinct per election. The savings largely comes from not needing as many poll workers, McCabe said.
The cuts were done at precincts with small voter turnout.
Before the reduction of 35 precincts in Youngstown and Struthers before the primary, the county had the lowest average number of voters per precinct – 623 – among the state’s 13 most-populous counties.
That number will be increased to 788 with these precinct reductions. When that’s finalized, Mahoning will drop to having the third-lowest average of voters per precinct among those 13 counties.
The board reduced the number of precincts from 416 to 312 in 2001. The number was cut by 25 to 287 in 2006 and then by 14 to 273 in 2012.