JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – It’s the result of not enough help on election days that’s causing the Stutsman County Commission to consider closing rural voting precincts beginning in 2020.

Stutsman County Auditor and COO Nicole Meland informed the Commission at their Tuesday meeting that there has been numerous problems in prior elections with maintaining polling sites and staffing them.

Meland says each site requires a certain number of individuals and says they have problems doing so at the rural sites without taking away from her staff in Jamestown.

In 2016 at the rural Stutsman County sites, Pingree reported 191 voters, Kensal had 145, and Medina saw 395 voters. Meland says in 2018, that was down. She proposed that the commission begin considering moving to just absentee voting for those living outside of Jamestown during elections.

She says other counties, including Foster and McKenzie, have done the same thing. Meland says there, they’ve actually seen an increase in voter participation.

The commission will make a decision on voting precincts before the end of the year, ahead of the 2020 election.

In other county business, the commission approved to purchase signage to place around Jamestown & Pipestem Reservoirs to signify their closure to the public once ice forms.

Stutsman County Sheriff Chad Kaiser announced in October that they would be prohibiting activity on both reservoirs once iced form for public safety as releases continue all winter.