How
polls are selected
How Are Precincts Formed, Polling Places Chosen
and Why Does My Polling Place Change?
Every election contains either a single
item or multiple items that each registered voter is asked
to make a choice on - these issues determine your ballot type.
Each item may be something that is voted on by everyone in
the county or it may be something that pertains only
to a specific area or district. Each district has legal boundaries
that sometimes split down the middle of a street or between
next-door-neighbors. Prior to each election the Registrar of
Voters office reviews what districts are affected by each
item to be voted on.
Every residence in San Bernardino County has been assigned
a "home precinct" number that is determined by all
the districts the property lies in. Once we have determined
all of the home precincts that are within the affected districts
we must "consolidate" or group together all of the
home precinct numbers that will vote on the same issues. These
groups of home precinct numbers are given a "consolidated
precinct" number.
Many factors and priorities are considered when joining home
precincts into consolidated precincts and selecting polling
places. Careful consideration is given to all of the following:
- The number of registered voters at
the time of consolidation
- The legal limitations for maximum
size (number of voters) of a polling place
- Any special legal considerations
- Distance the voter must travel
- Geographic accessibility – i.e.
distance might be short but could involve crossing busy
streets or passing other polling places, or could involve
difficult mountain roads, etc.
- Accessibility to the elderly and
voters with a disability
- History - consolidations from past
elections are reviewed and evaluated (to maintain
consistency of polling places whenever possible)
- Historical problems - Have there
been problems or complaints with a polling place or
consolidation
- Do existing polling places have enough space to handle
the expected voter turnout
The Registrar of Voters office makes every effort to send the
same voters to the same polling places in every election to
maintain consistency in polling places. Sometimes it is not
possible to keep the same polling place because of legal requirements,
district boundaries and other factors. Following is a list of
reasons for choosing a particular polling place or for changing
a polling place from one location to another:
- The previous polling place may not
have been available for this election.
- The previous polling place may not
be accessible to voters with a disability and the elderly as
dictated by law.
- It may have been necessary to
consolidate some precincts differently based on the issues.
- We may have tried to find the most
centralized polling place location, or one near the highest
number of registered voters.
- Polling place selected for this
election may have better road access or parking.
- There may have been complaints about the previous polling
place.
Due to the high volume of calls for information requests we
must process during an election we are unable to research questions
on specific polling place changes while we are conducting the
election. However, If you have a question regarding a specific
polling place, we will be happy to research it and respond to
your inquiry after
the election.
|
