Delaware County Board of Elections elects Ashley Luckenheimer as chair, votes to cut seven drop boxes and initiate precinct consolidations

The Delaware County Board of Elections elected Ashley Luckenheimer as its chair and authorized two major administration changes — shrinking the county's network of ballot drop boxes from 37 to 30 and asking the court to consider consolidation of multiple micro-precincts — at a meeting on Jan. 14, 2025.

The actions came after Director of Elections Jim Allen told the board that the county maintains 37 drop boxes for roughly 410,000 registered voters and that operating and securing the boxes adds staff time, camera maintenance and vehicle pickup requirements. "We have 37 drop boxes currently for 410,000 voters," Allen said in his presentation. He recommended removing seven low‑usage locations and notifying the affected municipalities before making any physical changes.

Allen and the board also presented a plan to reduce the total number of precincts to better match population and equipment‑capacity standards. "We want to maintain voter convenience and service. We want to keep voters in the same voting location wherever we can," Allen said, describing a goal of moving many precincts into a "sweet spot" between roughly 900 and 2,000 voters to reduce costs, equipment burdens and poll‑worker recruitment pressure.

Boa…