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{{shortShort description|BoundedA geographicalsubdivision areaof an electoral district}}
{{Other uses|Precinct (disambiguation){{!}}Precinct}}
{{About||the law enforcement usage|police precinct|the 2010 film|The Precinct}}
{{Globalize|date=December 2010}}
 
{{votingVoting}}
A '''precinct''' is a space enclosed by the walls or other boundaries of a particular place or building, or by an arbitrary and imaginary line drawn around it. The term is often used to refer to a division of a police department in a large city (either to the neighborhood patrolled or to the police station itself). [[New York City]] uses the term "precinct" for its police stations.
 
A '''precinct''' or '''voting district''' (U.S. terms),<ref>{{cite web |title=Geographic Terms and Concepts - Voting Districts |url=https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/gtc/gtc_vtd.html | publisher=US Census Bureau |access-date=23 October 2013}}</ref> '''polling district''' (UK term) or '''polling division''' (Canadian term), is a subdivision of an [[electoral district]], typically a contiguous area within which all electors go to a single [[polling place]] to cast their ballots.
==Elections==
A precinct is generally the lowest-level governmentally related division in the [[United States]], and in that context is also known in some places as an election district. The [[US Census]] uses the term voting district.<ref>{{cite web|title=Geographic Terms and Concepts - Voting Districts|url=https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/gtc/gtc_vtd.html|publisher=US Census Bureau|accessdate=23 October 2013}}</ref> Precincts usually do not have separate governmental authorities, but in some states, including Ohio, the voters within a precinct may by initiative or referendum vote on liquor control laws that will be applicable only within that specific precinct (called "local option elections"). For purposes of conducting elections, an entity such as a [[County (United States)|county]] or [[township (United States)|township]] is typically subdivided into precincts and each address is assigned to a specific precinct. Each precinct has a specific location where its residents go to vote. Sometimes several precincts will 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eac.gov/election_survey_2004/chapter_table/Chapter13_Polling_Places.htm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061214025307/http://www.eac.gov/election_survey_2004/chapter_table/Chapter13_Polling_Places.htm |archivedate=December 14, 2006 |title=Polling Places 2004 General Election |work=EAC Election Day Survey |publisher=The U.S. Election Assistance Commission}}</ref>
 
==Canada==
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 represent how the voters in a precinct feel about candidates and issues, and encourage people to vote. In theory, a precinct would have at least two such individuals (one for the Republican Party and another for the Democratic Party), though in areas where one party is dominant only that party may have such an individual.▼
In [[elections in Canada]], the area is called a '''polling division'''.<ref>{{Cite web
| url = https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=res&dir=pub/ecdocs/rom/vII/ch_4&document=ch_4&lang=e
| access-date = 2020-02-22
| title = Chapter 4 – Boundaries, Polling Places and the Voter Information Card
| author = Elections Canada
| date = September 2010
The [[Canada|Canadian]] equivalent of a precinct is known as a ''Poll''.}}</ref> Canadian political parties do not have elections for positions representing the voters in a poll.polling Perhapsdivision, thealthough closestparties equivalent is when partiesmay assign volunteers to canvass a poll, or to be an outside [[scrutineer]] pulling the vote (i.e. reminding supporters to go to vote) on Election Day or an advance polling day, or to be an inside scrutineer in the polling station noting who has come to vote so that can be communicated to thean outside scrutineer(s).▼
 
==United Kingdom==
▲The [[Canada|Canadian]] equivalent of a precinct is known as a ''Poll''. Canadian political parties do not have elections for positions representing the voters in a poll. Perhaps the closest equivalent is when parties assign volunteers to canvass a poll, or to be an outside scrutineer pulling the vote (i.e. reminding supporters to go to vote) on Election Day or an advance polling day, or to be an inside scrutineer in the polling station noting who has come to vote so that can be communicated to the outside scrutineer(s).
In [[elections in the United Kingdom]], this subdivision is known as a '''polling district'''.<ref>{{Cite web | url =https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/reviews-polling-districts-polling-places-and-polling-stations/legislative-requirements-a-polling-place-review#footnote1_teiagp | access-date = 2023-10-22 | title = The legislative requirements of a polling place review | author = The Electoral Commission | date = 12 July 2023}}</ref> It is typically a subdivision of a [[Ward (electoral subdivision)|ward]] and the [[polling station]] for the voters within that polling district can be found within it. However, in urban areas where distances are short, the polling station for that district may for practical reasons be located in a neighbouring district, sharing [[polling place]] with that district's polling station. The UK polling districts are usually the same, regardless of type of election.
 
===Historic=United States==
In the [[elections in the United States|United States]], an electoral precinct or voting district is the smallest unit into which [[electoral district]]s are divided. A larger geographic unit such as a [[county (United States)|county]], [[township (United States)|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.
[[Wards of the City of London]] were historically sub-divided into [[Wards_of_the_City_of_London#Divisions_and_precincts|precincts]], with each precinct electing a Common Councilman (they were therefore effectively [[electoral district]]s). While the wards still remain, the precincts have been abolished.
 
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.<ref>{{cite web
==Illinois==
|url=http://www.eac.gov/election_survey_2004/chapter_table/Chapter13_Polling_Places.htm
{{Further|List of precincts in Illinois}}
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061214025307/http://www.eac.gov/election_survey_2004/chapter_table/Chapter13_Polling_Places.htm
In [[Illinois]], 17 of the state's 102 counties are divided into ''precincts''. These minor civil divisions are not necessarily restricted to a single election district.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8KE7AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA43#v=onepage&q&f=false | title=A Guide to State and Local Census Geography | publisher=U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, Bureau of the Census | year=1993 | pages=43}}</ref>
|archive-date=December 14, 2006
|title=Polling Places 2004 General Election
|work=EAC Election Day Survey
|publisher=The U.S. Election Assistance Commission}}</ref>
 
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. <ref>{{cite web |title=2020 Election Administration and Voting Survey Report |url=https://www.eac.gov/sites/default/files/document_library/files/2020_EAVS_Report_Final_508c.pdf |website=U.S. Election Assistance Commission - Studies and Reports |publisher=US EAC, pages 53-54 |access-date=19 February 2022}}</ref>
==Religion==
In religion, ''precinct'' can refer to the ground (sometimes consecrated) immediately surrounding a religious house or place of worship.
 
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").<ref name="local-guide">{{Cite web
==Public housing==
| url = https://www.sos.state.oh.us/globalassets/publications/election/localops17.pdf
In [[Singapore]], a ''precinct'' is a cluster of [[public housing]] blocks arranged as a single unit.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ministry of National Development (Singapore)|title=Additional Info: Public Housing through the Decades|url=http://www.mnd.gov.sg/MNDAPPimages/Newsroom/Interviews/Public_Housing_through_the_Decades.pdf|accessdate=27 July 2016}}</ref>
| access-date = 2020-02-22
| format = PDF
| title = Guide to Local Liquor Options Elections
| author = Office of the Ohio Secretary of State
| year = 2017
}}</ref> 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.<ref name="local-guide"/> In addition, in Alabama, in those counties that have not abolished the constable system, [[constables in the United States#Alabama|constables]] are elected from individual electoral precincts.<ref>[https://codes.findlaw.com/al/title-36-public-officers-and-employees/al-code-sect-36-23-1.html Ala. Code § 36-23-1(a)], accessed 2020-02-23.</ref>
 
▲IndividualsIn 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 representreport to the party on how the voters in a precinct feel about candidates and issues, and encourage people to vote. In theory, a precinct would have at least two such individuals (one for the Republican Party and another for the Democratic Party), though in areas where one party is dominant only that party may have such an individual.
==Mall==
In a number of English-speaking countries, such as the [[United Kingdom]], [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]], a [[shopping mall|shopping centre]] may also be known as a ''precinct'', which refers to an enclosed public space with shops or department stores. A [[pedestrianised]] street or area of a town is sometimes called a ''pedestrian precinct''.
 
==See also==
{{Wiktionary|precinct}}
* [[Enclave]]
* [[List of precincts in Illinois]]
 
==References==
{{reflist}}
 
{{Terms for types of country subdivisions}}▼
{{USCensus Geography}}
▲{{Terms for types of country subdivisions}}
 
[[Category:Precincts| ]]
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