Vote center changes announced

5 communities will be affected

Voters in precincts in five Lorain County communities will have changes in their voting centers when they go to cast ballots Nov. 7.

The Lorain County Board of Elections on Sept. 11 approved needed changes in preparation for the fall election.

In coming days, affected voters will receive yellow notices with information about the polling places, precincts and maps to show them where to vote, said board Director Paul Adams.

The notices will come via mail, so voters in the affected areas should watch for that delivery, Adams said.

Lorain County has 81 vote centers serving 191 voting precincts in the cities, villages and townships.

Vote centers are selected largely based on size and location of the space, building availability and the number of voters in a precinct, Adams said.

By Ohio law, precincts are limited to a maximum population of 1,400 registered voters.

This round of vote center and precinct changes is based on

By Ohio law, precincts are limited to a maximum population of 1,400 registered voters.

several factors.

“In this particular case, you just have a number of different things happening,” Adams said.

To avoid confusion and encourage voting, the elections board prefers to have people cast their ballots consistently at one location.

“We want to have voters at the places where they have been going to as much as possible,” Adams said.

For the upcoming changes, the board began examining the situations in the spring and compiled the plan over several months, he said.

“It was pretty straightforward,” Adams said. “Staff here has put together these proposed changes over a number of months, so it was something that we thoroughly vetted before presenting to the board for final approval.”

The changes for Avon, Avon Lake and North Ridgeville largely are due to population growth.

“As we know in Lorain County, Avon, Avon Lake and North Ridgeville are growing communities and part of that growing also requires changes to the election process,” Adams said.

The changes in Elyria and Amherst were based on available space, he said.

The board usually has the largest number of changes for the elections following the U.S. Census, which happens every 10 years.

After the census, many cities redraw their ward lines, which often creates the need for new precinct lines and vote centers.

Anyone who has questions about voting in Lorain County should call the elections board at 440326-5900. The board website, www.loraincountyelections.com, also has information including online voter registration.