(Red Oak, Iowa) –  Montgomery County Auditor Stephanie Burke, today (Wednesday), said a proposal introduced by the Montgomery County Auditor’s Office and the Temporary Redistricting Commission to the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, would reduce County voting precincts by one.  According to Iowa law, every county in Iowa must review its precinct boundaries after a federal decennial census. As part of this process, the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors has scheduled a public hearing for 8:45 a.m. on December 21, 2021, to solicit public input in regards to the proposed changes to the County ordinance setting polling precincts.

Montgomery County currently has seven total polling precincts including three in Red Oak. Red Oak’s precincts are set by the city council. That leaves four precincts currently set by the County. The current  proposal would reduce that number by one. Burke says “We are considering combining precincts for reasons of electoral efficiency. 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 Montgomery County.”
Burke said some of the considerations for combining precincts is number of voters in the precinct, cost to run a polling location in the precincts and voter convenience. Facilities are also re–evaluated to ensure convenience, availability and polling place set–up. She said the Board of Supervisors ultimately approves the ordinance setting the polling precincts. Due to federal census being delayed this year, this process is being conducted under an expedited timeline.  Burke said the process must be completed by January 15, 2022. She said the County is currently on pace
to meet that deadline.

Maps can be reviewed at the Montgomery County Auditor’s Office located in the  Courthouse and on–line at www.montgomerycountyia.gov.