MERGING VOTING PRECINCTS

Randolph County BOERockingham County BOE

WHY MERGE VOTING PRECINCTS?* Increase in early voting

* Polling places issues - ADA compliance, difficulty in finding appropriate spaces

* Small precincts

* Limited resources – hard to find enough poll workers

* Cost savings when purchasing new voting equipment

* County Board of Elections support

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

* Post-election reporting of ballots by VTD

* Political makeup and climate of County

* Desire of County Board of Elections – bipartisan support

* Census (2010/2020)

* Timing – gradual or all at once

* New, larger polling places with adequate staffing

* No VTDs when Rockingham first merged precincts

NCSBE REQUIREMENTS

* Resolution approved and signed by County Board of Elections

* Executive Summary explaining changes

* Polling place accessibility surveys

* Written descriptions of proposed precinct boundary lines

* Electronic map and images of existing and proposed precincts and polling places

* Voter notification plan

* Must code ballots by Voting Tabulation Districts and record votes by VTD (G.S. 163-132.3)

* Update SEIMS precinct code names and description names in accordance with G.S. 163-132.3A

* Update polling place pictures in SEIMS

* Rockingham County – a preclearance county

AFTER PRECINCT CHANGES2012: 40 Precincts 2013: 22 Precincts

LESSONS LEARNED

Positive Changes

Post-election reporting by VTD is done.Reallocated resources – open additional one-stops when needed

Fewer judges/chief judges neededMade changes during a municipal election year, not before a presidential

Got buy-in from County Commissioners and political parties

Long-term cost savings on voting equipment, laptops

Times savings before and after election

Issues to Resolve

Long lines in November 2014 – lengthy ballot, no straight ticket vote, local issues

Easier to merge near census when Precincts match VTDs

Public perception: negative public feedback was limited

Expect the unexpected Not a one-size-fits-all solution Coding by precinct costs are higher

Randolph County – Melissa JohnsonRockingham County – Tina Cardwell