Watkinsville, GA — A change in Oconee County voting precincts could mean lower taxes for voters in the area. Oconee County currently has 13 voting precincts for countywide elections but some don’t see as much traffic as others. Combining these precincts would cost less money and save taxpayer dollars.
Several voting precincts in Oconee County continue to see decreasing numbers of voters. It costs about $850 of taxpayer’s money to manage a precinct. Even though the lower number remaining precincts would have to spend money to hire more employees, this would still reduce taxpayers dollars. The Board of Elections Office in Oconee County proposes reducing the number of precincts from 13 down to 6. The change is not yet confirmed and the Board of Elections Office says it is too early to say for sure the new number of voting precincts before voting.
Board of Election Chair Pat Hayes says since more people are opting for early voting precincts are seeing less traffic on election day. The consolidation would likely mean more voters at each polling location.
The voter turnout is expected to be very high in 2016 because of the presidential election. However, the change to Oconee County voting precincts will not be put into action until 2017.
