In the
United States, an electoral precinct or voting district is the smallest unit into which
electoral districts are divided. A larger geographic unit such as a
county,
township, or city council district is typically subdivided into precincts and each address is assigned to a specific precinct. Each precinct has a specific
polling station where its residents go to vote; however, more than one precinct may use the same polling station. A 2004 survey by the United States
Election Assistance Commission reported an average precinct size in the United States of approximately 1,100 registered voters.
Kansas had the smallest average precinct size with 437 voters per precinct, while the
District of Columbia had the largest average size at 2,704 voters per precinct. The 2020 survey by the United States Election Assistance Commission found a total of 176,933 precincts or precinct equivalents in the United States, of which 175,441 were in the 50 states plus the District of Columbia and 1,492 were in overseas U.S. territories. Electoral precincts usually do not have separate governmental authorities, but there are limited exceptions in some states. In
Ohio, the voters within a precinct may vote on liquor control laws that will apply only within that precinct (called "local option elections"). When precinct boundaries are redrawn during
redistricting, the result of the vote continues to bind the areas that were formerly inside the precinct's boundaries, although it does not bind any areas that have been newly added to the precinct since the vote. In a political party, individuals, known by various titles such as
precinct committeeman, precinct captain, or Precinct Committee Officer, are elected by ballot or county party executive committee, to represent precinct residents in every level of party operations. They report to the party on how the voters in a precinct feel about candidates and issues, and encourage people to vote. ==References==