Tom Slockett Johnson County Auditor Commissioner of Elections and Voter Registration 913 South Dubuque Street, Suite #101 Iowa City, Iowa 52240-4207 email: auditor@pobox.com web: www.jcauditor.com

August 15, 2001

Marian Karr
City Clerk of Iowa City
410 E Washington St.
Iowa City IA 52240

Dear Ms. Karr:

We received a copy of your proposed precinct boundaries on Thursday, August 9.

While we are in concurrence with the precinct plan, some shortcomings that may inconvenience voters should be examined and explained. We remain open to suggestions for improvement.

Many considerations had to be factored into the reprecincting process. The shortcomings of the plan may be explained by one or more of the following:

1. Population. No precinct may have over 3,500 census population when created or subsequently have more than 3,500 registered voters. Three old precincts (8, 9, and 12) were above the population limit.

2. Legislative Districts. According to the Code of Iowa, precincts when established cannot be in more than one state legislative district.

3. Census Blocks. Census blocks are the smallest unit of census data and cannot be split between precincts. Iowa City’s census blocks very in population from zero to 1,890 (a block containing two dormitories). In general, block boundaries follow streets. Areas with large cul-de-sac or dead end developments tend to create large census blocks that limit the possibilities for drawing precinct boundaries. In addition, some blocks cannot be divided from neighboring blocks. Blocks may be completely surrounded by other blocks or isolated by a district or city boundary.

4. Suitable Polling Place Locations. There is a shortage of potential polling place facilities in some areas, particularly on the south side of the city.

We see the following items as weaknesses in the plan which were unavoidable for the following reasons:

Precincts 4 and 22: Voters in the Peninsula area and at Forest View Trailer Court still have a long trip to the polling place at Lincoln School. The large population center at Mayflower Hall also continues to go to an inconvenient polling place at Shimek School. We had hoped these problems could be addressed in reprecincting. Unfortunately, a legislative district boundary along North Dubuque Street prevented the combination of these two populations into a new precinct. If future legislative boundaries allow, it would be desirable to add a precinct along the north edge of Iowa City.

Former Precinct 6 at Iowa Memorial Union Eliminated: In the 1990s, legislative district lines split the east side dormitories, and voters from Currier and Stanley Halls had to travel past the Burge polling place to vote at the Iowa Memorial Union. Under the new plan, Currier and Stanley voters are across the street from their polling place.

New Precinct 6 at Mercer Park. Some voters in Precinct 6 will have to travel a short distance past the Precinct 15 polling place at Southeast Junior High to get to the Mercer Park Recreation Center. The two polling places are adjacent and within sight of each other on the same census block.

Precincts 7 and 8: Voters in the Galway Drive area will continue to travel past the Precinct 7 polling place at West High to get to the Precinct 8 polling place at Weber School.

Old Precinct 8 was over the maximum population. A legislative district line along Mormon Trek Boulevard prevented any boundary changes to the east. Thus the only way to bring Precinct 8 within population standards was to move voters into Precinct 7.

Only three census blocks in old Precinct 8 bordered Precinct 7. One of these blocks includes Weber School. The census block that includes Galway Drive is very large, stretching from Melrose Avenue to Rohret Road. The third contiguous block is in the Pheasant Ridge area. Moving only the Galway block would cut Pheasant Ridge off from the rest of precinct 8. Moving both Galway and Pheasant Ridge would place Precinct 7 over the maximum population.

Precincts 12 and 15. Grant Wood School is a central location for a population in excess of the maximum precinct population allowed by law. Thus there are some people who would prefer to vote at Grant Wood School but, by necessity, must vote elsewhere.

Precincts 14, 18, and old Precinct 13. The previous Precinct 14 centered around Twain School has been divided between new Precinct 14 and Precinct 18. New Precinct 14 takes the place of old Precinct 13, with Twain School now serving voters in the Southgate area.

The Southgate area suffers from a lack of suitable polling places. The Precinct 13 polling place in the 1990’s, the City Transit Building, will be required to serve a new precinct. Winebrenner Ford was the polling place in the 1980’s, but in 1991 management did not wish to continue that arrangement. The Broadway Neighborhood Center was considered in 1998 but could not meet the requirements for a polling place. Vacant commercial space in the Pepperwood area is not a realistic option for a ten-year commitment.

Most of the voters in new Precinct 14 are in the Twain School attendance area and will be better served by Twain as a polling place than they were by the relatively distant City Transit building.

Precincts 16, 23, and 25. Proposed annexations could require the creation of a new precinct in this area before the end of the decade. Legislative district boundaries on the east side of Iowa City follow the January 1, 2000 city limits. Upon annexation, new areas of the city are appended to the adjacent precinct, but the legislative district boundaries do not change. In the short term this would require separate ballot styles for persons living in the annexed area. If an annexed area grows to over 50 registered voters, a new, separate precinct must be established for the annexed area. This new precinct would be in effect for all elections whether or not legislative offices are on the ballot.

In the event that the annexed area grows beyond 50 registered voters, one option might be to establish an Iowa City Precinct 26 at Fairview Golf Course, the current Scott Township polling place. A city-county agreement could then combine Scott Township with Precinct 26. In effect this would be the same precinct with a different name.

We’ve enjoyed working with you on this project. Thank you for the opportunity to comment. If you have any questions please call.

Sincerely,

Tom Slockett
Johnson County Auditor and
Commissioner of Elections

TS/jb