FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Phil McGrane December 9, 2011
Ada County Clerk’s Office
Phone: 287-6880
Seeking Public Comment on Voting Precincts
Ada County is looking for public input on how it redraws its precinct boundaries. Following the establishment of new Congressional and Legislative district boundaries by the Commission on Reapportionment, the County must now reconstruct its precinct structure. Precincts are used to determine where residents vote and how many residents vote in the same location.
The Ada County Elections Department will host an open house to obtain public comment on redrawing precinct boundaries within Ada County. The open house will be held:
Date: Thursday, December 15, 2011
Time: 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. with a brief overview at 6:00 p.m.
Maps will be made available to the public beginning at 5:00 p.m.
Location: Ada County Courthouse – Public Hearing Room, first floor
200 W. Front Street, Boise
Ada County’s rapid growth has created a great disparity between the numbers of voters among precincts. In western and southern parts of the county there are numerous precincts with over 2,600 voters, where in parts of north and central Boise precincts have as few as 700 voters.
Ada County would like to balance the number of voters in each precinct to somewhere in the range of 1,200 – 1,400. To achieve this, the county will be looking at dividing some precincts, while combining others. Due to practical and financial considerations, few new precincts will be added beyond the existing 141.
Public input is critical. These changes will impact where people go to vote and, at times, how long the lines will be.
Those unable to attend the open house are invited to submit their thoughts via e-mail at Elections@adaweb.net.
# # #