Voters at the South Roanoke 2 precinct in 2008.

In February, Roanoke’s electoral board pitched the idea of consolidating the city’s precincts, from 32 to 19.

The city registrar and three members of the board say the change will save Roanoke roughly a quarter of the cost of each election but cutting down on staff and equipment that needs to be set up.

The city council heard the recommendation and put it on the backburner until after the May 1 elections, when councilman Sherman Lea proposed moving elections to the fall.

At that point, the consolidation came back up again.

Now, the electoral board has scheduled a series of open houses in August to collect public input on the proposed consolidation.

Three have been announced. They’ll take place from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
• Thursday, Aug. 9, at the Jackson Park branch library multipurpose room;
• Monday, Aug. 13, at Preston Park Recreation Center; and
• Monday, Aug. 20, in Room 159 of the Noel C. Taylor Municipal Building.

Two other open house sessions will be held in August at William Fleming High School and Patrick Henry High School. Those dates have yet to be announced.

For more information, you can contact City Registrar Lavern Shepherd at 853-1037 or by email at lavern.shepherd@roanokeva.gov.