The commission will make a decision at the March 18 City Commission meeting at City Hall, 228 S. Massachusetts Ave. The plan would reduce the number of precinct locations from about 25 locations to about 12, based on the most recently used combined footprint, saving on labor and election organization.

LAKELAND — As mail-in ballots gain popularity among voters, the Lakeland City Commission is considering combining precincts for its municipal elections. But first it wants to hear from voters.

The commission will make a decision at the March 18 City Commission meeting at City Hall, 228 S. Massachusetts Ave. The plan would reduce the number of precinct locations from about 25 locations to about 12, based on the most recently used combined footprint, saving on labor and election organization.

This plan was used most recently for the Jan. 15 special election with the expectation turnout would be low and mail-in ballots would dominate the choice.

City Clerk Kelly Koos recommended the plan would be used for the 2019 municipal election. The 2020 general election would keep the larger number of polling locations.

“I think the assumption is that you would do that permanently,” City Attorney Tim McCausland said Friday at an agenda study meeting, “but I think it bears revisiting after every election because the last thing you want to do is inconvenience people and have it impact turnout.”

Turnout was low at a little more than 12 percent for the Jan. 15 special election, but higher than the 2015 turnout — when Commissioner Phillip Walker was re-elected in the only race on the ballot with a little less than 12 percent turnout — and the 2010 special election that saw 8 percent of eligible voters make a selection.

In January, 71 percent of ballots cast came by mail-in vote, a figure that has increased with each election.

“That seems to be a clear trend of voting by mail,” McCausland said. Another benefit is that it would allow the city to host most of the voting sites in public facilities, rather than relying on the beneficence of private organizations.

Koos said the smaller precinct footprint “certainly was more manageable” than the full plan.

“This is one of those things we need to tread lightly on,” Commissioner Justin Troller said. “One of our roles of government is to encourage participation” in the electoral process. The city must accommodate voters and “whether they take advantage of that, that’s up to them.”

Troller said he recognizes it would save roughly $10,000 “and a lot of work,” but “I don’t want to create confusion. … The more polling places we have, the more we are prepared to defend the democracy we’re built on.”

Mayor Bill Mutz said he got the sentiment, and posited that the commission and other elected officials in charge of elections find themselves in a transitional period for voting — between full-on off-site voting and the traditional election day rush to the polls.

Sara Roberts McCarley, who won her Southwest District seat on Jan. 15, said communication to voters is important, saying her campaign directed a lot of voters' questions to the Polk County Supervisor of Elections office.

Polk County Supervisor of Elections Lori Edwards told The Ledger the expense of holding elections and staffing those voting sites has always been a consideration in setting precincts.

It costs between $1,000 and $1,500 to run a small precinct per day, Edwards said.

“Of course you always need to proceed very carefully when you change precincts, or move precincts, or reduce the number of precincts,” she said. But she added that it seemed the city has taken care not to rush it.

As for the special election, “we did not have any complaints by any voters,” she said.

At Friday’s agenda study, Troller questioned whether Lakeland’s elections could be moved to all mail-in.

“It’s a strong trend, you just can’t deny it,” Edwards told The Ledger. “It just keeps growing and growing. … People like convenience.”

She said Colorado has adopted a hybrid method that may be a model — all ballots are mailed to voters, and a limited number of voting sites are set up where people can drop off the ballots, or ask questions, if they so choose.

Whether the saga in North Carolina’s Ninth Congressional District, where it is suspected fraudulently harvested mail-in ballots turned the election in favor of Republican Mark Harris, will slow that adoption is a good question, she said, but one that may be solvable with public education.

“It’s a scam,” she said of the alleged crimes. “It’s not unlike many scams that many voters fall victim to on a regular basis.”

Now that it has been discovered, it can be defended against, she said.

“We all need to keep our guard up all the time. We need to protect our vote, it’s precious.”

Allison Guinn can be reached at 863-802-7592 or aguinn@theledger.com.