By ALEX MALM

Come next election some Warwick residents will find themselves voting in a different Ward.

The Council held its first Ward Reappointment committee March 15.

The drawing of new ward lines occurred  after the State Senate and House of Representative districts were redrawn as part of the every 10 year redistricting process. The General Assembly has approved the new state districts.

Warwick Reappointment Committee members include Council President Steve McAllister, Ward 8 Councilman Anthony Sinapi and Ward 4 Councilman Jim McElroy.

Kimball Brace from Election Data Services explained the Supreme Court ruled the population of all districts need to be within plus or minus of five percent of each other. Election Data Services is the consulting company hired by the city to help with the redistricting process.

To comply, Wards 1 and 3 needed to gain population while Wards 8 and 9 needed to lose population.  Originally Ward 1 had 6.1 percent less than the other wards, and Ward 3 had 5.5 percent less than the others. Ward 8 started off with 7.5 percent more than other wards, and Ward 9 started off with 7.3 percent more.

Under the proposal the new north boundary between Ward 1 and 2 is Atlantic Avenue and Post Road.

The other boundary line will remain Warwick Ave. The east side of Warwick Ave. at Governor Francis Shopping Center is all Ward 1 while the other side is Ward 2.

In order for Ward 3 to gain population the biggest change is adding people from Ward 8.

“We brought all of Wethersfield Commons into the ward,” said Ryan Martin from Election Data Services.

The new dividing line for Ward 8 and 9 is now Centerville Road. Previously the boundary line was Toll Gate Road.

“Overall in the grand scheme of things there are very few changes. We did not have to move too many (people),” said McAllister.

In total Martin said that less than 8,000 people would be moved as part of the redistricting if the proposed map is approved.

With the new proposed maps it means that Ward 1 will have the least amount of residents with 8,816, and Ward 9 will have the most with 9,541. The target population for all the wards is 9,208 people.

McAllister said that a second committee meeting will take place on April 4. A vote by the full Council is expected to take place that night as well. 

The deadline to submit the new street files to the state is April 15. It will include the new voting precincts. Once complete,  Kerry Nardolillo , Warwick Director of Elections said that postcards will be sent out informing residents the new districts. She expects the postcards to be sent out in May or June before the official candidate declaration period.

Nardolillo said that no incumbents would be redistricted out of their respective Wards under the proposal.

The change in representation goes into effect after the swearing in of the new Council next January meaning that all current Council members will represent their current Wards until then.