Elections board reduces precincts to save money

9/14/2010

The Lucas County Board of Elections expects to save more than $150,000 a year by consolidating voting precincts throughout the county.

Voters are to receive a letter in the mail in the next few days telling them their new precinct number and voting location. That information also is available on the board's Web site, www.lucascountyvotes.org.

Linda Howe, director of the board of elections, said yesterday that the board reduced the number of precincts from 495 to 397 last year and this summer further reduced that number to 354.

Because of the elimination of precincts, about 550 fewer poll workers will be needed on election day, she said.

The Ohio Department of Commerce plans to run a list of 6,789 current or former Lucas County residents in The Blade tomorrow to alert them they are entitled to unclaimed funds totaling more than $3.2 million.

Each account is worth $50 or more and may have come from dormant checking and savings accounts, rent and utility deposits, uncashed checks, undelivered stock certificates, and uncashed insurance policies.

Those funds represent accounts that were turned over to the Division of Unclaimed Funds in the past year. But the state has more than $29.4 million in 168,577 unclaimed accounts for Lucas County.

To see a complete list of unclaimed funds and to access forms for claiming the money, go to www.com.ohio.gov/unfd/TreasureHunt.aspx.