 In April, with the new census information in hand, the finance
committee initiated several time-sensitive processes that are
decided every 10 years.
One county board obligation is to re-establish county voting
territories, currently set as districts and precincts.
A related matter is to reset board member compensation.
These are all matters that need county board approval and public
display time before candidates would file for positions in the next
election.
Districts
Districts are set by population -- how many people live in an
area.
The county's total population includes the prisons, though that
population is not counted for the county's voting districts. The
districts are divided to contain even numbers of population that are
then represented by two board members.
Finance chairman Chuck Ruben observed, "We lost actually 1,540
(total population), as the prisons gained 671 (inmates) and we lost
878 (citizens)."
In May, the board approved that the county would continue with
the same number of districts -- six -- and would remain at two
representatives per district.
The district dividing lines would remain nearly the same. There
are now fewer voters in District 2. So, a few voters were taken out
of the larger adjacent districts 4 and 5.
To stay as districts or to return to choosing board members at
large would also be put to voters as a 10-year question in the next
election. But if districts would be chosen again, the new
territories and numbers are now set.
The board approved the districts in May.
Two more related decennial matters could be decided at the
Tuesday night meeting.
Board member compensation
It appeared that the board would agree to reset board member
compensation at $60 per diem with no paid benefits.
Board members would also continue to be compensated for travel
while on board business and to meetings.
This was the proposal that was brought forward out of the finance
committee last month but failed to get approval.
Board members would no longer be paid insurance benefits. To
arrive at the proposed figure, finance chairman Chuck Ruben took the
total amount that is being paid out to board members, including
insurance benefits that some board members partake in, and then
redistributed it evenly to all board members as a per diem.
The proposed figure compares with board compensation in counties
of like size to Logan County and to the compensation for Lincoln
City Council members.
The new rate would start on Dec. 1, 2012, and would affect future
boards for the next 10 years. None of the current sitting board
members would receive this new compensation unless re-elected. All
current terms are set to expire Nov. 30, 2011, when the board would
also be reset by district or at-large representation.
Precincts and polling places
On Thursday, Terry Carlton announced that both Democratic and
Republican Party representatives were consulted, and it was agreed
that the county's 45 precincts could be reduced to 28 precincts. He
had a new map that had met with the approval of both parties.
Some polling place consolidations would be announced later as
well.
Reducing the number of precincts and polling locations would not
only reduce costs, but also simplify finding locations.
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In March, board chairman Bob Farmer and finance chairman Chuck
Ruben asked Sally Litterly, the county clerk, to see how precincts
might be consolidated and to create a new map.
Precincts are set by voter numbers. By Illinois law, precincts
must be kept under 800 voters.
Litterly explained that when deciding a precinct, you count the
actual number of voters who cast ballots, not total registered
voters. She averaged votes from the last two elections in
determining the new consolidated precincts.
In answering questions during the May finance committee meeting,
Litterly said there are no limitations for distance where polling
places can be located. One polling place consolidation includes
moving Lake Fork voting to Laenna. Lake Fork had about 10 voters
with five election judges all day.
While convenience has been a consideration, it is no longer like
in the horse-and-buggy days, Litterly observed. Other committeemen
agreed with her that many people drive into Lincoln to work and that
early voting also allows convenience for people to come to the
courthouse when they are in town.
There is one factor for setting precincts. "If you have a town
within a precinct, you have to have a precinct within a town," she
said. Examples she gave are that Emden has Orville 1, Hartsburg has
Orville 2, and you need to keep it like that. This allows for
population representation.
Elkhart, which is split between Hurlbut and Elkhart townships,
presents a unique situation. That polling place would be kept in
Elkhart, as one of its polling places -- the township shed -- is
just a mile away from the other precinct location.
Litterly said you could work a year to figure out all the ways
you would see savings with these consolidations.
"Times are tough. And, no one's giving us any money to do this.
So, what we're trying to do here is eliminate expense," she said.
Eliminating a polling place by consolidation cuts costs of the
polling place use, machines and signs.
Consolidating precincts reduces numerous costs: Precinct kits run
$100 each; five election judges are needed to represent each
precinct; and there would be fewer cards to code and fewer ballots
to print. In short, there would be a minimum savings of $600 per
precinct just in judges and kits, and a bigger savings overall to
county taxpayers.
Once approved, new districts and precincts would be viewable on
the county's GIS.
[By
JAN YOUNGQUIST]
Past related articles
Other information
2010 Census
Redistricting Data
Decennial census
data are used for geographically defining state legislative
districts, a "redistricting" process that begins in 2011.
County level data
by state is available through the Census Bureau's interactive map
tool. For more local area data about your state, visit
American FactFinder.
(Copied from
http://2010.census.gov/2010census/
data/redistricting-data.php)
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