Citrus County has reduced the number of polling precincts through consolidation.

Supervisor of Elections Susan Gill told county commissioners today that the last time the precincts were changed was 10 years ago, which was also a redistricting year.

Not many changes have been made since the last redistricting changes in 2001. "What has changed is the advent of early voting and mail ballot voting, which has greatly increased," Gill said. "In the 2000 general election, 61 percent of the people voted prior to election day - either by absentee or early voting. So we have to look at what we have right now and say, 'is there any way we can consolidate these precincts that will make more sense?' - because when we don't have that many people coming to the polling place, it's not terribly cost effective," Gill said.

The county had 41 polling stations, and that number will now be reduced to 31. Although the precincts in which voters on the west side of U.S. 19 appear to be in a large geographical area, Gill said, "We actually only have less than 7,000 registered voters who live west of U.S. 19, so it looks like a large geographic area on the (precinct) map, but it's not."

Under the new guidelines, the following changes will be made to precincts and polling stations:

• Precincts 100 and 111 will be combined. Normally, those voters vote at the Days Inn and at the Church of God on Tallahassee Road. Now those voters will vote at the Red Level Baptist Church.
• Precincts in Citrus Springs, 103 at the Congregational Church and 110 at the Citrus Springs Community Center, will be combined, and voters will all vote at the community center.
• The precinct at the National Guard Armory in Crystal River and Precinct 106 (which currently votes at St. Timothy's Church, and is directly across the street from the armory) will be combined, and all voters will vote at the armory.
• In Beverly Hills, Precinct 203, which is at the public library, and Precinct 207, which is at the Beverly Hills Recreation Center, will also be combined. All voters will now vote at the public library.
• In Homosassa, Precinct 302 at the Homosassa Lions Club, Precinct 303 at the Homosassa Library, and Precinct 309 at the Knights of Columbus, will be combined, and all voters will vote at the West Citrus Elks Club - and it will be numbered Precinct 302.
• Also in Homosassa, Precinct 305, which votes at the Christian Center Church off U.S. 19, will be combined with both Precinct 304 in Homosassa and Precinct 305 in Chassahowitzka. All voters will now vote at the Christian Center Church.
• Sugarmill Woods precincts will also be combined - Precincts 307 and 308. Voters will now vote at the Homosassa Methodist Church.
• The two precincts in Inverness - Precincts 409 and 410 - will be combined, and voters will now vote at Inverness City Hall.

There will be four early-voting sites:

• Homosassa Public Library
• Central Ridge Public Library
• The new Meadowcrest government facilty
• Inverness City hall

The county approved the changes by a vote of 5-0.

SO YOU KNOW:

• Supervisor of Elections Web Site

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