by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland is looking to add about 15 precincts to Duval County before the end of the calendar year to more equitably distribute the voting public.
Right now, there are 285 precincts in Duval County and according to Holland, the disparity between registered voters in many of them numbers in the thousands. On election days, that disparity causes long lines in some precincts and very little activity in others.
“We have several precincts with 3,000 to 4,000 registered voters while a couple have as few as 125,” said Holland. “That creates long lines that frustrate voters in those precincts and not much to do in others.”
Realigning the voting precincts requires City Council approval and it may be costly. Holland is in the process of meeting with all 14 district Council members about his plan to redraw many precincts. Holland says the meetings are going well and stressed that he is assuring Council members that no changes will be made if that is the Council member’s wishes.
“If they want to leave things exactly the way they are, that’s fine. I show them the maps and give them my recommendation,” said Holland.
At $20,000 apiece, Holland is looking to spend about $300,000 in order to create a county with an average of 18-20 precincts per Council district. Right now, a few Council districts have upwards of 27 precincts and Holland’s budget may not allow him to accomplish his goal all at once. Each new precinct will require $17,500 worth of fixed capital costs and possibly another $2,500 for labor.
“Fixed costs are the voting machines, tables, chairs, handicap equipment — everything that can be moved, we own and store,” explained Holland. “Anytime you add precincts, it costs money.”
Holland said the idea to realign the precincts struck him shortly after he took office this spring. He asked his staff to break down the county’s precincts in a color-coded map that grouped each precinct by the number of registered voters. What Holland found was that by realigning a few precincts and adding others, he could create a county with nearly 300 precincts, all within a few hundred registered voters of each other. He said the idea will hopefully create smoother election days for the voters and better distribute the work required to run 300 precincts.
“We also need to increase the number of early voting sites from 10 to 15,” said Holland. “The goal is not just to add numbers, but to spread out the precincts. I would like to get this done before the calendar year so we can use it
next year for the election for governor, the House and school board.”