American at a polling booth

Twenty-five percent of voters in St. Clair County will be going to a different precinct to cast their vote in the spring presidential primary.

A new state law raising the average number of voters in a precinct from 800 to 1,200 mandated the change.

St. Clair will see 41 of its smaller precincts eliminated because of the new legislation.

“Seventy-five percent of people will be in the same spot,” St. Clair County Clerk Tom Holbrook said.

He hoped the changes do not keep anyone from casting a vote.

“People got put at the next closest precinct,” Holbrook said. “The chances of people having to travel much farther to vote are slim.”

The elimination of smaller precincts is expected to save the county as much as $40,000.

“That is rough estimate,” Holbrook said of the projected cost savings. “Each polling place has to have five judges. Sometimes we have to rent the space for the polling place; and election judges make $200. It is a long day for election judges. I commend our election judges. Very few of them do it for the money. It can be a very stressful job.”

The County Clerk noted that despite the elimination of smaller precincts, every township will have at least one polling place, according to the new law.

Centreville Township residents will see the most change, with nearly half of their 21 precincts eliminated. Eleven Centreville precincts have been eliminated.

Other townships in the county seeing precincts eliminated are:

• Belleville — going from 35 to 25
• St. Clair — going from 31 to 24
• Canteen — going from nine to five
• Caseyville — going from 26 to 22
• Stookey — going from 10 to seven
• Marissa — going from 2 to 1
• Sugarloaf — going from six to five

Holbrook said anyone being assigned to a different precinct will get a new voter registration card in the mail by mid-September.

He said that that voters who do not get a new card in the mail, nothing has changed for their Election Day polling place.

The County Clerk noted that voting early is becoming a more popular option with residents. He said 53 percent of ballots cast in the 2020 presidential election was through early voting and 36 percent of votes cast in the 2022 gubernatorial race was through early voting.

“It’s much easier. I urge all residents to vote early,” Holbrook said. “You can do it seven days a week. You can always vote by mail. We pay the postage both ways.

“Early voting has gotten much, much more popular and continues to get more popular. There were questions about votes by mail in the last presidential election. Those were not founded. People like early voting because they can do it at their own convenience.

“I wish everyone would vote early rather than waiting for a few set hours on a set day. By waiting until

Election Day to vote, everything can go wrong. The kids could get sick.”

“I wish everyone would vote early rather than waiting for a few set hours on a set day. By waiting until Election Day to vote, everything can go wrong. The kids could get sick.”