The Linn County Clerk’s Office has made extensive changes to the county’s election precincts following changes in the house and senate district boundaries.
The boundaries of some precincts have been adjusted. New precincts have been created, and several precincts have been eliminated. Overall, the number of precincts was reduced from 82 to 50.
The major problems encountered in the reprecincting were due to the boundaries of the new house and senate districts in relation to existing special district boundaries, Linn County Clerk Steve Druckenmiller said. To the extent possible, school district boundaries were used to determine where precinct boundaries would be located.
There are areas where this was not followed because new house and senate district boundaries interfered.
In addition, because the new senate and house districts follow the existing city limits of Lebanon, Sweet Home, Tangent and Harrisburg, future annexations may place some city electors in house and senate districts different from the rest of the city.
In the numbering of precincts that were combined, the number of the precinct with the largest number of electors was retained. Precinct 1, in Albany, was the only exception to this.
In cities that have wards, precincts were merged to follow existing ward boundaries.
Sweet Home now has only a single precinct, Precinct 62. That includes former precincts 25, 59, 61, 62, 80 and 82.
Around Sweet Home are precincts 31, 77, 99, 46 and 20.
– Precinct 31 is south of Sweet Home and includes a portion of former Precinct 90 and a portion of former Precinct 31.
– Precinct 99 is west of Sweet Home and includes former Precinct 99 except a small portion that went to Precinct 46 following a house and senate district boundary line.
– Precinct 77 lies to the southwest of Sweet Home between precincts 99 and 31. It is unchanged.
– Precinct 46 is north of Sweet Home. It includes a small portion of former Precinct 99 divided by a new house and senate district boundary line.
– Precinct 20 sprawls east of Sweet Home and includes Cascadia extending to the county limits to the east and the North Santiam Canyon precincts to the north. It includes former Precinct 20 and a portion of former Precinct 90.