Ward Maps Redrawn for Kent Residents, Voters

Some Kent residents are waking up to find they're living in different wards of the city today.

approved a slight redrawing, or reapportioning, of the city's ward map — based on the — at a special council meeting Wednesday night.

The change , which calls for examining the population of the city's six wards every 10 years, based on Census data. The charter calls for apportioning each ward equally, and redrawing boundaries if necessary, "so that there is no disparity in resident population of more than 10 percent between wards," according to the charter.

So, based on the latest Census, changes were needed to balance the populations. The reapportionment mostly affected Ward 3, Ward 4, Ward 5 and Ward 6. And the biggest changes came in Ward 3 and Ward 4.

Ward 3 gained the most residents by going from 4,271 in 2010 to having 4,722 based on the new map — a gain of 451. Ward 4 lost the most residents by going from 5,391 in 2010 to having 4,988 residents based on the new map — a loss of 403.

Council has been talking about the ward boundary changes for several months, and one concern of Ward 4 Councilman John Kuhar, whose ward is mostly occupied by and its dormitories, was that he would be losing local voters.

Bridge Susel, Kent's grants administrator, said council had to approve the changes and file them with the Portage County Board of Elections by Oct. 8 — 150 days prior to the March primary election when the changes will take effect.

"I was able to take into consideration all the comments I received from members of council," she said.

Susel said just 31 students were moved from Ward 4 into Ward 5 under the new map.