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The Curious Bag
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Wards and precincts are both political subdivisions that exist within the jurisdiction of a municipal government. The two are not the same however, and both terminologies often serve as sources of confusion.
Definition
The Free Dictionary defines a precinct as both "a small geographical unit of government" and "an election district created for convenient localization of polling places." Each precinct contains one polling place.
Ward
A ward is a municipal district from which voters elect aldermen to represent them on their municipality's city council. A ward may be comprised of several voting districts.
Towns
According to the Free Dictionary, towns are a Municipal Corporation that are formed and regulated by the legislature of their state. Because states restrict a town's size, voters do not select their representatives by ward, district or neighborhood.
Counting votes
After the last vote is cast on Election Day votes are counted and reported by precinct. Often, comparisons are made between voting trends from one precinct to the next.
Voting Districts
The various states also utilize wards and precincts for administering elections. By 1980, the U.S. Census Bureau allowed states to request that their precinct boundaries be used as census enumeration districts. By 1990 these were renamed voting districts.
Source:
Massachusetts Democratic State Committee: Democratic Town and City Committees
City of Fayetteville, Arkansas: City Government
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