Charlottesville Voting Precincts
In Charlottesville elections, voters are assigned by residence to one of ten geographic areas, the Voting Precincts, each with its own polling place. This polling place may also be called the Precinct.[1]
The four wards are the electoral districts used in the city for elections and polling. These are divided into voting precincts. Citizens at addresses in the same precinct all vote at the same polling station. Example: Recreation Precinct (101) and Clark Precinct (102) are in the First Ward; Carver Precinct (201) and Walker Precinct (202) are in the Second Ward etc.
Revisions
The number of voting precincts changed in 2011 when the Johnson Precinct and Buford Precinct were created.[2]
List of precincts
| Precinct Name | Ward | Polling Address | Precinct Map |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recreation Precinct (101) | First | Herman Key Recreation Center, 800 East Market Street | Map |
| Clark Precinct (102) | First | Clark Elementary School Gym, 1000 Belmont Avenue | Map |
| Carver Precinct (201) | Second | Carver Recreation Center, 233 4th Street NW | Map |
| Walker Precinct (202) | Second | Walker Upper Elementary School Gym, 1564 Dairy Road | Map |
| Tonsler Precinct (301) | Third | Benjamin Tonsler Recreation Center, 500 Cherry Avenue | Map |
| Johnson Precinct (302) | Third | Johnson Elementary School Cafeteria, 1645 Cherry Avenue | Map |
| Buford Precinct (303) | Third | Buford Middle School, 1000 Cherry Avenue | Map |
| Venable Precinct (401) | Fourth | Venable Elementary School Gym, 406 14th Street, NW | Map |
| Alumni Hall Precinct (402) | Fourth | Alumni Hall Main Ballroom, 211 Emmet Street | Map |
Polling areas
Voting district (VTD) is a generic term adopted by the Bureau of the Census to include the wide variety of small polling areas, such as election districts, precincts, or wards, that State and local governments create for the purpose of administering elections. Some States also use groupings of these entities to define their State and local legislative districts, as well as the districts they define for election of members to the U.S. House of Representatives. In a nationwide cooperative program for the 1980 census, the Census Bureau gave States the opportunity to request use of these election precinct boundaries as the boundaries of census enumeration districts (EDs) or, in some areas, census blocks. The Census Bureau began using the term voting districts as it began planning for the 1990 census.[3]
Virginia Law Requirements
Redistricting
The Virginia Constitution Article VII, Section 5, provides that the governing bodies of counties, cities, and towns are to be popularly elected. The Constitution allows elections at-large or by districts (also called "wards") within the locality. If elections are by districts, the locality must redistrict each 10 years beginning in 1971.[4] Charlottesville’s five City Councilors are all elected at-large, meaning they do not represent a specific area within the city.[5] Virginia redistricting starts again in 2021. The current 1946 Charter, has the five members of City Council elected in staggered, citywide elections on a nonpartisan ballot. Any changes to the current voting system would ultimately require approval by the Virginia General Assembly since legislative approval would be needed to amend the city's charter.[6]
According to the publication Guide to Local Redistricting for 2011, "Twelve of the 39 Virginia cities elect council members from districts: Covington, Emporia, Franklin, Fredericksburg, Hopewell, Lynchburg, Newport News, Norfolk, Petersburg, Richmond, Suffolk, and Winchester. (Poquoson, Virginia Beach, and Waynesboro have districts used for candidate residence requirements, but elections are at large in these cities.) All cities with one exception have regularly scheduled council elections in May or November 2012 and even-numbered years. Charlottesville is the only city with a council election scheduled for November 2011 but the council is elected at large, and so the city will not be required to redraw council district lines." [7]
2010 Voting Precincts Population Totals
Charlottesville did not redistrict in 2011.
| County | Precinct Number | Precinct Name | Precinct Population | Ward Total Population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlottesville | 540101 | Recreation | 6208 | |
| Charlottesville | 540102 | Clark | 4673 | |
| Total First Ward | 10881 | |||
| Charlottesville | 540201 | Carver | 3056 | |
| Charlottesville | 540202 | Walker | 3800 | |
| Total Second Ward | 6856 | |||
| Charlottesville | 540301 | Tonsler | 4575 | |
| Charlottesville | 540302 | Jefferson Park | 6421 | |
| Total Third Ward | 10996 | |||
| Charlottesville | 540401 | Venable | 9495 | |
| Charlottesville | 540402 | Alumni Hall Part 2 | 896 | |
| Charlottesville | 540402 | Alumni Hall Part 1 | 4351 | |
| Total Fourth Ward | 14742 | |||
| Total All Four Wards | 43475 | |||
| Average | 10869 | |||
| 5% of the average | 543 |
- Data Source: http://redistricting.dls.virginia.gov/2010/Data/2010%20PL94-171/2010_VTDs.pdf
- Note: Should Charlottesville choose to redistrict after the 2020 Census, projections based on 2010 Census data would indicated the Fourth Ward may need to shrink and Second Ward may need to grown by the same amount. Each ward has to end up within 5% of the average.
References
- ↑ Web. POLLING PLACES, City of Charlottesville
- ↑ Web. Charlottesville Precinct & Polling Center Changes for Election Day, nbc29.com, Nov 03, 2011
- ↑ https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch14GARM.pdf
- ↑ https://law.lis.virginia.gov/constitution/article7/section5/
- ↑ https://www.cvilletomorrow.org/articles/future-of-charlottesville-governance
- ↑ https://law.lis.virginia.gov/charters/charlottesville/
- ↑ http://dls.virginia.gov/pubs/redist/Redist2011.pdf