Some Calcasieu Parish voters were recently notified by mail of changes made to their voting districts and precincts in preparation for the Nov. 4 election, Voter Registrar Angie Quienalty said Tuesday.

State law requires a voting precinct with less than 300 registered voters to be merged with a precinct “with equal values,” she said. Two examples call for the precincts to have the same School Board and Police Jury members.

Meanwhile, precincts in the Moss Bluff and south Lake Charles areas had too many voters and needed to be split. State law requires that a precinct with more than 2,200 voters be split.

“That way, it makes it more manageable,” Quienalty said. “Having too large of a precinct creates long lines and more waiting times.”

She said her office analyzed the number of voters in the precincts and gave the information to the Calcasieu Police Jury. The panel then decided whether a precinct should be merged with another or be split.

The precincts the Police Jury decided should be changed:

Precinct 303W was merged with Precinct 307. The polling location for Precinct 307 is Chateau du Lac, 333 Mill St.

Precinct 462 was merged with Precinct 463. The polling location for Precinct 463 is Westlake High School, 1000 Garden Drive.

Precinct 166 was divided into Precinct 166E and Precinct 166W. The polling location for both is Moss Bluff Elementary School, 215 School St.

Precinct 367N was divided into Precinct 340 and Precinct 372. The Precinct 340 polling location remains at Positive Connections, 5282 Weaver Road. The Precinct 372 polling location will be St. John Elementary School, 5566 Elliott Road.

Precinct 368 was changed and redesignated as A.A. Nelson Elementary School, 1001 Country Club Road.

Redistricting changes made by the Calcasieu School Board, the DeQuincy City Council and the Iowa Town Council led to some board members representing different voting districts, Quienalty said.

State law requires any voter who has moved to make voter registration changes by Oct. 6 in order to cast a ballot in November.

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For more information, visit www.geauxvote.com or call the registrar’s office at 721-4000. Office hours are 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.(Rick Hickman/American Press)