St. Clair's Election Math: Fewer Precincts = Fewer Pollworkers = Lower Costs

[Image courtesy of Tracy Olson via Creative Commons]

With another round of statewide and federal elections looming this fall, localities are once again looking for ways to make their limited funds stretch as far as possible on Election Day. In Illinois’ St. Clair County, the latest idea is to reduce polling places and reap the savings on poll worker pay. BND.com has more:

A plan to consolidate voting precincts in St. Clair County could save $300,000 during a two-year election cycle.

St. Clair County Board members Frank Heiligenstein, a Democrat of Freeburg, and David Tiedemann, a Republican of Shiloh, are pushing to combine the county’s voting precincts with the fewest voters. State law recommends voting precincts should have between 500 and 800 voters per precinct. The county has 40 voting precincts with fewer than 500 voters.

“If we follow logic and common sense, we could eliminate 65 precincts,” Heiligenstein said, noting he believes each precinct should have about 1,200 voters.

St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern said county officials are working to consolidate precincts that fall significantly below the required 500 voter level and the county should adhere to all applicable law when consolidating precincts.

Heiligenstein believes the county could reduce the county’s 205 voting precincts to 140 precincts. Doing so would save thousands of dollars per precinct — most of the cost stems from paying up to five election judges $200 each per election, according to Heiligenstein.

The issue in St. Clair is the uneven distribution of voters across the county:

For example, a precinct in Canteen Township has 146 voters while a precinct in Mascoutah Township has 1,555 voters.

Heiligenstein said the county could combine the current 14 precincts in Canteen Township into 4 precincts. He estimates consolidating those precincts alone would save $45,000 during a two-year election cycle. Three elections occur in each election cycle.

Canteen Township’s 14 precincts average 362 voters, according to county records. During the most recent Presidential election in 2012, only 79 voters cast a ballot in one of the township’s precincts. In comparison, more than 14 times that number of voters (1,151 residents) cast a ballot in that election from a precinct in the Caseyville Township.

Tiedemann represents part of Shiloh Valley Township where precincts have as many as 1,481 voters in a precinct. Tiedemann said voters in those precincts wait only a few minutes during the busiest times to cast a ballot on election days. The three precincts in the Freeburg Township, which Heiligenstein represents, average 1,169 voters per precinct.

One obstacle is a state law that mandates at most 800 voters per precinct – but as county staff note, that law doesn’t take into account new realities:

The problem is those vote totals do not reflect the popularity of early voting and ballots cast by absentee, Heiligenstein said. State legislators approved early voting in 2005. Those ballots are handled by election judges at the County Building, not judges at polling places hosted in each precinct on Election Day.

“Those laws are based on a time when voters went to the polls by horse and buggy,” Heiligenstein said, noting he has asked state legislators to increase the maximum.

In St. Clair County, 12 percent of voters cast their ballot early or through absentee ballots in the most recent election in March and 19 percent did so in November 2012. In the November 2012 election, St. Clair County provided additional satellite locations for those wishing to vote early.

The good news is that the county feels well-prepared to make the changes once the decision is made – but it needs to happen soon:

Heiligenstein said the next step in the process [once the decision is made] is … directing county staff to determine the legal description of the precincts’ boundaries — which the County Board needs to approve. Unless the process is started soon, Heiligenstein said the revised precincts will not be ready until after the March 2016 elections.

Kern said county staff will be able to complete the process in time, just as they did in 2011 when County Board districts were redrawn.

“As proven during the County Board redistricting process, our GIS Department is well equipped to provide updated legal descriptions, should they be necessary, in a timely fashion and we should have no problem completing the precincts in time for the 2016 elections,” Kern said.

Tiedemann said the issue should be regularly addressed to ensure the cost of precincts are in line with needs of voters.

This discussion is likely happening in many localities across the nation – thanks to BND’s Daniel Kelly and St. Clair officials for sharing the details!

Stay tuned …