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Precinct

 

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Precinct



 
 
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 has several different uses. It can, for example, refer to a division of a police department in a large city.

ecinct is generally the lowest-level minor civil division
Minor civil division

Minor civil division is a term used by the United States Census Bureau to designate the primary governmental and/or administrative divisions of a county , such as a civil township, precinct, or magisterial district....
 in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, and in that context is also known in some places as an election district.






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Encyclopedia


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 has several different uses. It can, for example, refer to a division of a police department in a large city.

Elections

A precinct is generally the lowest-level minor civil division
Minor civil division

Minor civil division is a term used by the United States Census Bureau to designate the primary governmental and/or administrative divisions of a county , such as a civil township, precinct, or magisterial district....
 in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, and in that context is also known in some places as an election district. Precincts usually do not have separate governmental authorities, but for purposes of conducting elections, a minor civil division such as a county
County

A county is a land area of Local government government within a larger state. A county may have city and towns within its area....
 or township
Township (United States)

A township in the United States refers to a small geographic area. Townships range in size from 6 to 54 square miles , with 36 square miles being the norm....
 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
Polling station

A polling place or polling station is where voters cast their ballots in elections.Since elections generally take place over a one- or two-day span on a periodic basis, often annual or longer, polling places are often located in facilities used for other purposes, such as schools, stadium or local government offices, and will each se...
. A 2004 survey by the United States Election Assistance Commission
Election Assistance Commission

The Election Assistance Commission is an Independent agencies of the United States government created by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 . The Commission is charged with serving as a national resource for administering Federal elections and establishing standards for State and local governments....
 reported an average precinct size in the United States of approximately 1,100 registered voters. Kansas
Kansas

The State of Kansas is a Midwestern U.S. state in the Central United States of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the United States "Heartland"....
 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. .

Political parties
Political party

A political party is a political organization that seeks to attain and maintain politics power within government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns....
 often designate individuals, known by various titles such as "precinct captain
Precinct captain

A precinct captain is the individual who acts as the direct link between a Political party and the voters in an election precinct. A precinct captain helps with voter registration, distribution of literature and other promotional efforts, and helps voters get absentee ballots or get to the voting booths on election day....
" or "Precinct Committee Officer
Precinct Committee Officer

A Precinct Committee Officer, or PCO, is the name for an office in the U.S. state of Washington that organizes a voting precinct for a political party....
," to help them keep track of how the voters in a precinct feel about candidates and issues, and to encourage people to vote.

Precinct data are not widely available, though they can often be obtained by request. The Canadian
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 equivalent of a precinct is known as a Poll.

Religion

In religion, precinct can refer to the ground (sometimes consecrated) immediately surrounding a religious house or place of worship (e.g. Ancient Rome).

Public housing

In Singapore
Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country microstate located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It lies 137 kilometres north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands....
, a precinct is a cluster of public housing
Public housing

Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by not-for-profit organizations, or by a combination of the two, usually with the aim of providi...
 blocks arranged as a single unit.

Precinct/mall

In parts of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, a shopping mall
Shopping mall

File:Nordstrom wing , Pentagon City Mall.jpgA shopping mall or shopping centre is a building or set of buildings which contain retail units, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit....
 (or centre) may be also known as a precinct, which refers to an enclosed public space with shops or departments. The pedestrianised
Car-free zone

Car-free zones are areas of a city or town in which automobile traffic is prohibited. They are instituted by communities who feel that it is desirable to have areas not dominated by the automobile....
 area of a town is sometimes called a pedestrian precinct.