News & Notes: Local residents discuss new voting districts

Before Princeton residents approved consolidation at the polls on Election Day, student housing was split between Princeton Borough and Princeton Township, and consequently different students would report to different polling locations to vote.

There are currently 3,057 eligible voters in the larger of the two University voting districts, which was the part that was located in the borough.

Under the new plan, there would be 22 voting districts in total in the consolidated Princeton, with larger districts in the western portions of what is now the Township and smaller ones in the more densely populated areas near Nassau Street in what is now the Borough.

The plan was designed by the Mercer County Board of Elections with input from a public meeting held on Dec. 7. The Princeton Packet reported that residents — who were able to compare proposed districting plans at a presentation on Dec. 14 — preferred his plan to a proposal with just 19 districts but more discrepancy in terms of the number of voters in each district.

In creating the proposed districts, the designers paid special attention to districts that are currently split between the two municipalities in order to facilitate access to polls and even out voter turnout.