That court-approved redistricting plan is costing Raleigh County more than a few thousand voters being shipped to adjoining counties. All told, once the need to add 24 new precincts — and five voting machines for each — along with poll workers, janitorial service and, in some locales, rental fees are taken into account, Raleigh County’s tab is a whopping $462,000, says Commissioner Dave Tolliver.
Only last week, the state Supreme Court upheld the hotly disputed plan for the House of Delegates, as well as the Senate’s non-controversial one, saying neither one violated the West Virginia Constitution. What no one mentioned in all the debates in the House was the bill that will follow.
Tolliver said Tuesday the county is obligated to add 24 precincts, raising the total to 87, and each must be equipped with five voting machines. That translates into 120 additional machines at cost of $3,500 apiece.
Add to that $29,400 to pay the extra poll workers and janitors, along with $6,000 for supplies and an estimated $7,000 to rent space for the precincts, Tolliver said. “That’s a grand total of $462,000,” Tolliver said, noting the figure was arrived at in an hour-long consultation with a deputy county clerk.
Full Article: Redistricting plan to cost $462,000 for Raleigh » Today’s Front Page » The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia.