Commissioner proposes reduction in number of precincts

A St Joseph County Commissioner is asking for a reduction in the number of precincts. Currently there are 225.

Commissioner Deborah Fleming proposed the idea to reduce the number of precincts by 90 at Tuesday's meeting.

She said the recommendation came from the Election Board. They also recommended eliminating precinct sheriffs.

Fleming says the plan is not for political gain and shouldn't change how votes come in. 

She says it's all about saving taxpayers money.

"The election board and the county clerk had come up with a recommendation, two recommendations, actually. One was to decrease or eliminate the sheriff's position in the precincts. The other was to redistrict to lower the number of precinct locations in the county. And their claim was to save money. I think that's a great idea," said Fleming.

Commissioner Fleming added that changing the number of precincts would need to be approved by the state within a month for it to go through before the fiscal budget.