Consolidation plan eliminates 127 voting precincts 
 
By James Conmy, Citizens' Voice  01/13/2005 
 
A consolidation plan that eliminates 127 voting precincts and saves approximately $175,000 was unanimously approved Wednesday by the Luzerne County Board of Elections.

The first draft of the plan would abolish 51 voting sites in the county's four cities - Hazleton, Nanticoke, Pittston and Wilkes-Barre. The 316 total precincts would be reduced to 189.

It will now be circulated to representatives of the 76 municipalities for feedback. Alterations can be made before Jan. 1, 2008, the anticipated implementation date, said Neil O'Donnell, solicitor for the election board.

The plan falls in line with existing federal, state and local political jurisdictions, including magisterial and school districts. Voter registration figures also were used, according to Luzerne County Bureau of Elections Director Leonard Piazza.

"We're looking to streamline and make elections more efficient to comply with the federal Help America Vote Act," Piazza said. "We're also looking to save taxpayer dollars and get the best bang for our buck.
"There has been such a shift in population and there is no reason we should not be in line with other third-class counties."

Luzerne County has more voting precincts than any third- class county in Pennsylvania.
No one area was targeted for cuts, Piazza insisted. Registration numbers dictated changes.

In downtown Wilkes-Barre there are voting precincts with less than 100 registered voters. Precincts were formed when downtown Wilkes-Barre was the county's population hub, Piazza said.

As a result, the plan proposes eliminating 22 of the city's 43 precincts.
Precincts will be added in more rural areas like Butler, Fairview, Kingston, Sugarloaf and Wright townships to represent the population trends.

"To have 100 voters or less in a voting precinct just doesn't make any fiscal sense," Piazza said. "The goal was to place the proper amount of voters in each election district."

Minority commissioner and election board member Stephen Urban supported the plan, but is concerned with problems it creates in some communities.
In Shickshinny, council members are elected by ward, not at-large. The plan calls for the elimination of three of four borough wards and, if implemented, would have an effect on municipal elections.

Urban wants to know how elections will be conducted when the plan is implemented.
The reason the plan is being circulated three years before implementation is to afford time for inter-governmental cooperation, Piazza said. He is pushing for an at-large election and ending ward-based elections.

Four wards are not practical, considering the borough's population (approximately 950 residents) and the cost to taxpayers, Shickshinny Council Chairman Dave Reider said. He is amenable to the board's plan to consolidate the borough's four wards into one.

Reider believes eliminating the wards would ensure the borough's eight council people are responsible to all residents, not just those in their wards.

"People are reluctant to call anyone other than their ward council people if they have a problem," he said. "If you run at large, it makes it even more clear that you represent the whole town."

Once the final consolidation is implemented, it would likely be another 10 years before it is changed again, Piazza said.

Holding off until 2008 allows voters to have four elections with new electronic voting machines before invoking another substantial change, Piazza said.
"I think it's just too much, we have to do one thing at a time," Piazza said. "The bottom line is to make it more efficient and user friendly."