North Canton, Perry Township to see polling location changes

Robert Wang, The Repository
·6 min read

More than 1,100 voters in North Canton will not see the name of their current council member on the ballot in the next city election in November.

Due to new ward boundaries, the Stark County Board of Elections has approved assigning about 772 of those North Canton voters a different in-person polling location starting with the May 2 primary.

North Canton's new city boundaries differ slightly from the old
North Canton's new city boundaries differ slightly from the old

And the board reassigned 324 voters in Perry Township to another polling location.

The reason for the changes in North Canton is its city council in March approved changes in the ward boundaries so the populations of the city's four wards are more similar.

More:North Canton's proposed redistricting reflects growth in northeast corner of city

Population shifts in North Canton, Perry Township

In southwest Perry Township, new residential development caused the number of voters in Perry Township 4, which adjoins Massillon and Navarre to balloon to 1,386, close to the legal limit of 1,500 per precinct, said Travis Secrest, the board's election systems manager. Also Perry Township 16 to the north had 1,230 voters. So the board created a new Perry Township 20 precinct with 658 voters. The board reassigned 324 voters in Perry Township 4 and 334 voters in Perry Township 16 to the new Perry Township 20.

Those 324 voters, who voted at Richville United Church of Christ, will now vote at Perry Baptist Church at 2425 Perry Dr. SW. starting with the May 2 primary. The 334 voters in Perry 16 will continue to vote at Perry Baptist as before.

Here are more details about the changes:

  • An estimated 751 residents, of whom 446 are registered to vote, who live east of North Main Street in North Canton in what were the election precincts of Ward 2A and Ward 2B will now be part of Ward 1C. Their polling location will change from Church of Christ of North Canton to Faith Family Church on 8200 Freedom Ave. NW. Council David Metheney is the Ward 2 councilman, and Council member Jamie McCleaster is the Ward 1 councilman. The old boundary line between Ward 1 and Ward 2 was North Main Street. The new boundary line between Ward 1 and Ward 2 goes east from the Family Dollar store on North Main on Seventh Street NE, north on Orchard Avenue NE, east on Holl Road NE, north on Overland Avenue NE and west on Applegrove Street NE back to North Main.

  • About 286 residents would change from North Canton Ward 2C to Ward 3B. But they would still continue to vote at Church of Christ of North Canton. Stephanie Werren is the council member for Ward 3. The affected area includes Washington Square and Hoover Park and is bounded by East Maple Street except a section of Plain Township along the Hoover Recreational Complex, Market Avenue N, the northern boundary of the city and Marquardt Avenue NE.

  • About 413 residents, which includes 326 registered voters, would be switched from North Canton Ward 3C to North Canton Ward 4C. Their polling location would change from the Champion Event Center to the North Canton Civic Center on West Maple Street. John Orr is the council member for Ward 4. That area is bound the city's southern boundary west from South Main Street along 50th Street SE, north on Carleton Drive SE, west on Meadowlane Drive SE, north on Greenway Road SE, west on Easthill Street SE and south on South Main Street.

  • Part of the Perry Township 4 precinct and part of the Perry Township 16 precinct will be joined to create a new Perry Township 20 precinct. The new Perry Township 20 precinct has as its borders Navarre Road SW to the southeast, Genoa Avenue SW to the east, Southway Street SW to the north, the western boundary line between Perry Township and Massillon and Richville Drive SW to the southwest. The part south of Nave Street SW is the section from Perry Township 4 and the part north of Nave is the section from Perry Township 16. Voters won't see any changes in who represents them in local governments on their ballots except for possible liquor license options and elections for precinct members of the Stark Republican and Democratic central committees.

The North Canton charter requires that the city have four wards "which shall be as nearly equal in population as is practicable. Each ward to be composed of contiguous and compact territory bounded by natural boundaries or street lines."

Until this year, the ward boundaries in place since at least 1980 were simple. Ward 1 was the area north of West Maple Street and west of North Main Street. Ward 2 was the area north of East Maple Street and east of North Main Street. Ward 3 was the area south of East Maple Street and east of South Main Street. Ward 4 was the area south of West Maple Street and west of South Main Street.

With construction of new allotments in the northeast part of the city, Ward 2's population significantly grew to more than 12% more than the average population of 4,461 for the ward, said Benjamin Young, the city's director of legislative affairs. Ward 2 has more than 6,000 residents. The result was a greater number of people in Ward 2 were represented by one ward council member. But a fewer number of people in the other wards also were represented by one ward council member. That gave residents of Ward 2 disproportionately less of a voice on council in violation of the charter and the principle of "one person, one vote."

"You have to keep it equitable. It's got to be even," said Council President Matthew Stroia, At-Large. "You can't ignore (the population disparity) forever. (Even though) it's nice when it's a perfect square."

With the new map drafted by Young, the ward populations now range from 4,413 to 4,565.

Young said as a result of the changes Ward 1 gained 751 residents from Ward 2. Ward 3 got 286 residents from Ward 2, but Ward 3 lost 413 residents to Ward 4.

Possible impacts

None of the current incumbent North Canton ward council members live in the affected areas. But if they seek re-election, the ward changes could affect whom their opponents would be if any residents of those areas run for a ward council seat in the future.

The changed precinct boundary lines may affect stores and restaurants seeking to place future liquor options on the ballot. And elections of precinct members of the central committees of the Stark Republican and Democratic parties could also be impacted by the new precinct lines.

The Board of Elections eliminated the North Canton 2C precinct, took the portion of 2C west of Marquardt and added it to 2A and 2D now becomes 2C. That's offset by the addition of the new Perry Township 20 precinct. The county will still have 273 election precincts.

More:Canton City Council re-aligns city wards after population shift

Secrest said Canton and Massillon submitted their ward line changes in time to take effect for the May 3 primary.

Reach Robert at (330) 580-8327 or robert.wang@cantonrep.com. Twitter: @rwangREP.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Nearly 800 in North Canton, Perry Twp to have new polling locations