Why do theAtlanta Suburbs have such large precincts?

[ProgressiveModerate]

I can't think of any other place in the country where you have large swaths of excessively large precincts like this. Forsyth County is probably ground 0 for this with a bunch of 20k+ precincts.

It seems like precincts in the rest of the state rarely exceed 5k with exceptions for like military bases.

[Sol]

Fast growing areas in states with historical VRA preclearance equals jumbo precincts. I think there are some comparably bad ones in exurban Phoenix and Houston.

[Hope For A New Era]

Missouri has some like this too, mainly in Jefferson County (south of St. Louis) and around Springfield.

[Smash255]

In most cases those precincts were likely made when the area was heavily rural and had a fraction of the population and they just have decided not to split or change them.

[sting in the rafters]

Massive population boom and also like most Southern states Georgia does almost everything through the county

[Adam Griffin]

I can't think of any other place in the country where you have large swaths of excessively large precincts like this. Forsyth County is probably ground 0 for this with a bunch of 20k+ precincts.

It seems like precincts in the rest of the state rarely exceed 5k with exceptions for like military bases.

Forsyth has seen both its population and precinct composition change dramatically over the past 20 years.

Important to remember that Forsyth had next to nobody living in it prior to the 1990s:



Since then, precinct boundaries have changed at least 5 times (important to note that even DRA boundaries are out-of-date for 2020). Here it was prior to 2006:



From 2006 to 2009:



From 2010 to 2015:



From 2016 to 2019:



For the 2020 election:



For the 2022 election:



Generally, I'd say these changes have occurred because at first (when precincts were being added/made smaller), the county's rapid growth made it necessary.

However and over time - especially as early voting became more and more popular, thereby taking the load off of Election Day - a county filled with wealthy, educated voters found itself not needing anywhere nearly as many physical precincts to serve the community.

Now, we're back facing the same issue as before: even with fewer ED voters, the sheer growth of the county is once again causing the need for an increased number of precincts.

I imagine it's really frustrating for voters who are now literally seeing their precinct boundaries change between every election: maybe they'll finally pick a map and stick with it!

[ProgressiveModerate]

I can't think of any other place in the country where you have large swaths of excessively large precincts like this. Forsyth County is probably ground 0 for this with a bunch of 20k+ precincts.

It seems like precincts in the rest of the state rarely exceed 5k with exceptions for like military bases.

Forsyth has seen both its population and precinct composition change dramatically over the past 20 years.

Important to remember that Forsyth had next to nobody living in it prior to the 1990s:



Since then, precinct boundaries have changed at least 5 times (important to note that even DRA boundaries are out-of-date for 2020). Here it was prior to 2006:



From 2006 to 2009:



From 2010 to 2015:



From 2016 to 2019:



For the 2020 election:



For the 2022 election:



Generally, I'd say these changes have occurred because at first (when precincts were being added/made smaller), the county's rapid growth made it necessary.

However and over time - especially as early voting became more and more popular, thereby taking the load off of Election Day - a county filled with wealthy, educated voters found itself not needing anywhere nearly as many physical precincts to serve the community.

Now, we're back facing the same issue as before: even with fewer ED voters, the sheer growth of the county is once again causing the need for an increased number of precincts.

I imagine it's really frustrating for voters who are now literally seeing their precinct boundaries change between every election: maybe they'll finally pick a map and stick with it!

I really just wish the census bureau did voting precincts like they do with tracts, rather than states themselves doing it. The constant changes and huge inconsistencies in population really suck.