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YOUNGSTOWN -- The Mahoning County Board of Elections is considering a reduction in voting precincts, starting next year, because of issues recruiting enough poll workers and an eventual reduction in costs.
With numerous people voting early, the strain on polling locations during elections is less than several years ago, said Tom McCabe, the board's director.
Also, with 212 precincts, the board of elections needs 848 poll workers for each election, and the Ohio Secretary of State's Office wants 30% over that as backups, McCabe said.
"We struggle with poll workers," McCabe said. "It's tough to recruit them. Getting that 30% over the 848 is impossible. I'm glad to get 848 so if we can reduce that number, it will be a benefit."
McCabe compared the average number of voters per precinct in Mahoning to eight other counties in the state with similar numbers of registered voters.
"I wanted to see where we are compared to everyone else and we have the fewest voters per precinct than anyone else by a lot," McCabe said.
Mahoning's 724 voters per precinct is lowest. The next lowest is Trumbull County with 830 voters per precinct.
On the high end is Medina County with 1,125 voters per precinct and Lorain County at 1,126.
The state average is 892 voters per precinct.
The board could eliminate 50 precincts to get to the state average of 892 voters per precinct.
Eliminating 40 precincts would save about $60,000 annually in costs, McCabe said, though it would take a couple of years to realize that savings because the board would initially have to upgrade its software to place voters in different precincts and the expense of mailing notifications to those who would change precincts.
In most cases, polling locations for voters would not change because precincts would be consolidated in the same communities, McCabe said.
Cutting 40 precincts would mean 160 fewer poll workers would be needed, McCabe said. That would create the needed reserve of poll workers and would also result in faster results on election night, he said, because of faster delivery of ballots.
The board is expected to discuss the possible consolidation Sept. 8.
"If the board agrees to proceed by January or February, it can be 20 precincts or 40 precincts or whatever they decide," McCabe said. "It would be best to do it for the 2027 election because that's not a presidential year."
The board has reduced precincts over the years as the population of the county has shrunk and more people have voted early.
In 2001, it went from 416 precincts to 312. Additional cuts in 2006 and 2012 reduced precincts to 273. The last reduction in 2015 brought the number of precincts to its current 212 total.