A proposal introduced by the Clinton County Auditor’s Office to the Clinton County Board of Supervisors would reduce County voting precincts by one.
Every county in Iowa must review its precinct boundaries after a federal decennial census, according to Iowa law. As part of this process, the Clinton County Board of Supervisors has scheduled a public hearing for 10 a.m. December 20, 2021, to solicit public input in regards to the proposed changes to the County ordinance setting polling precincts.
Clinton County currently has 26 total polling precincts including 12 which are within the cities of Camanche, Clinton and DeWitt and are set by those municipalities’ city councils. That leaves 14 polling precincts currently set by the County. The current proposal would reduce those to 13.
“We are considering combining precincts for reasons of efficiencies,” said Eric Van Lancker, Clinton County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections. “Every ten years we review how our polling precincts perform and consider how we can best use tax payer dollars while administering our electoral process in Clinton County.”
Van Lancker said some of the considerations for combining polling precincts is number of voters in the precinct, cost to run a polling location in the precinct and availability of citizens to work the polling location.
The polling precincts proposed to be combined will affect voters in Liberty Township/City of Toronto, Center Township, Camanche Township and City of Low Moor. Here is a detailed list of the changes:
The City of Low Moor precinct will be combined with Eden Township and continue to vote at the Low Moor Community Center.
Camanche Township voters will likely vote in Camanche after the new boundaries are approved. Those voters currently vote in Low Moor.
Liberty Township/City of Toronto will be combined with Spring Rock Township/City of Wheatland which traditionally votes in Wheatland.
Center Township will be combined with Deep Creek Township/City of Goose Lake which traditionally votes in Goose Lake.
Van Lancker said the Board of Supervisors ultimately approves the ordinance setting the polling precincts and may consider other options.
Due to the federal census being delayed this year, this process is being conducted under an expedited timeline. Van Lancker said the process must be completed by January 15, 2022. He said the County is currently on pace to meet that deadline.
