The Putnam County Board of Elections made a proposal today to increase cost effectiveness when it comes to voting.
The board met with the county commissioners on Tuesday and proposed to consolidate the 18 voting locations down to 12. Along with that they proposed the acquisition of new voting systems to possibly be implemented by the 2019 primary election. The state has offered counties funding to purchase new voting equipment and Putnam County plans to take advantage of that. The planning of this proposal has been in the works for two years. The next steps will be taken at the board's January 15 meeting.
"We've put a lot of effort into this proposal to reduce the number of voting locations," Kurt Sahloff said, chairman of the board of elections. "We're still going to have accessibility for everyone in all parts of the county. It's just going to make the voting less expensive and should be just as accessible for everybody in the county."
Here in the following proposal:
Leipsic, Columbus Grove and Kalida will each have locations with three precincts voting at one location, a village, a township and an adjoining township.
Pandora, Fort Jennings, Ottoville and Continental will each have a voting location comprised of two precincts, a village and a township.
Perry Township and Jackson Township will vote together in Cloverdale. Palmer Township and Liberty Township will vote together in Miller City.
Ottawa and Glandorf with six precincts will have three voting centers, two in Ottawa and one in Glandorf.
