The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has approved updating the county's voting precincts, a move the county says was to account for population growth.

“These precincts were last updated in 2012, and Maricopa County has grown a lot since then,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Denny Barney, District 1 said in a press release. “I think we did things the right way.  We listened to stakeholders, and we made only the adjustments that we believe are necessary to accommodate our changing communities.”

The board's unanimous approval of the plan to update the voting precinct map includes creating new precincts and adjustments that mostly include Districts 1 and 2 in the East Valley.

“It’s important for everyone to realize that updating precincts is not a new thing,” District 2 Vice Chairman Steve Chucri said in a statement. “We took great care to make sure that on the final version of this map, any changes were made as a result of population growth or confusing ballots along city borders.”

County officials point out that not every district will see any changes as a result of the precinct updating.

“We didn’t make any adjustments in my district because there’s a large senior population," District 4 supervisor Clint Hickman said. "They were very clear that they like things the way they are.  And we were able to accommodate that."

The county says it plans to consider additional voting precinct changes after the 2020 census.