CALHOUN COMMISSION WORKING ON VOTER REDISTRICTING

(11/12/2011)
The State Supreme Court will hear arguments next week in five cases challenging the House of Delegates and state Senate redistricting plans for voting in the Mountain State.

The Calhoun Commission and County Clerk Mike Ritchie will be conducting a work session next week on redistricting voters in Calhoun, required by law based on 2010 census numbers.

Each of the county's voting precincts are required to have about the same number of voters.

Polling places were established in county communities during the horse and buggy days, and voters get upset when they are moved to a new polling place some miles away.

County Clerk Mike Ritchie said he understood why some voters are unhappy, giving an example of Crummis Creek residents going to Grantsville to vote, instead of nearby Arnoldsburg.

"I'm sure Grantsville residents would have a problem going to Crummis Creek or Arnoldsburg," Ritchie said.

Still, with population shifting within the county, some voters will have to be moved to another voting precinct.

County commissioners said there is no way to make everyone happy.