Kootenai County commissioners direct elections staff to prepare precinct-boundary resolution after public concerns

Kootenai County commissioners on March 6 directed Elections Department staff to prepare a resolution for the March 11 business meeting proposing several precinct-boundary adjustments including dissolving court-created Precinct 523, creating a new Precinct 209, and moving small areas among Precincts 302, 303, 311, 519 and 520, elections manager Asa Gray said.

The changes are intended to remove a precinct that now contains a single registered voter, address population growth in the unincorporated Athol/Spirit Lake area while staying inside legislative district lines, and reduce the number of split ballot combinations that poll workers must manage, Gray said. "We need to dissolve court created Precinct 523, which currently has 1 registered voter prior to the next election," Gray said.

County staff presented maps and voter counts showing the projected effects. Countywide registered voters totaled 109,997 at the time of the meeting, Gray said. Under the proposal, 1,479 registered voters would change precinct numbers and 496 voters would change polling locations; new Precinct 209 would contain about 830 registered voters drawn…