The Johnston County Board of Elections has asked the State Board of Elections for permission to relocate 5 voting precincts in the county and consolidate 12 precinct locations into six just in time for the March 2016 elections.
Leigh Anne Price, Director of the Johnston County Board of Elections, said the county election board adopted the resolutions at their meeting on Wednesday.
Under the first request from the state, 5 voting sites would be permanently relocated starting with the March elections . This includes relocating the South Boon Hill voting site from the Brogden Fire Station to Tee’s Chapel Freewill Church, moving the North Clayton 1 precinct from the Clayton Fire Station to Hocutt Baptist Church, moving the East Smithfield precinct from the Smithfield Town Hall to the Smithfield First Baptist Church Ministry Center, relocating the Southeast Cleveland precinct from the Cleveland Fire Department to the Oakland Presbyterian Church, and the South Clayton precinct from the Mount Calvary Baptist Church to Christ Community Church.
In the second request, 12 voting precincts would be consolidated into six. The reason is because of the large numbers of early voters in the precincts, which in turn results in a light turnout on Election Day.
The proposed combinations include: North Clayton 1 and 2, West Clayton 1 and 2, North Cleveland 1 and 2, North Smithfield 1 and 2, Archer Lodge and Flowers Plantation, and Southeast Cleveland and Southwest Cleveland.
State elections officials are expected to make a decision within a few weeks on the two requests.
Should the precinct combination plan be approved, Johnston County would slim down its precincts from 36 to 30.