[10/03/03}Voters in the central parts of Vicksburg being looked at for plans to redraw the line that separates the city’s North and South wards will use the same voting precincts as in previous elections.

The public hearing on the proposed redistricting of the city’s two wards will be at 10 a.m. Oct. 20 at City Hall Annex. The plans and maps are available at the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library, City Clerk’s Office and at the Circuit Clerk’s Office.

“It was very clear where the lines should be changed, and there was no argument about it,” said Mayor Laurence Leyens.

Leyens said he left most of the planning for redistricting up to the aldermen and Central Mississippi Planning and Development. The proposal, originally drawn by North Ward Alderman Gertrude Young, will move the line south, effectively moving nearly 1,500 South Ward residents into the North Ward.

David Wade with Central Mississippi Planning and Development said those residents currently vote in three precincts that were already split between the two wards. At those precincts American Legion, No. 7 Fire station and Vicksburg Junior High School voters will be given ballots for the ward based on where they live.

The next municipal election is in 2005, and redistricting plans for the city will not affect next month’s state and county general elections.

Vicksburg’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen will approve the plan after the public hearing and submit the new wards to the U.S. Justice Department for approval.

Before 1976, Vicksburg’s two aldermen were elected at-large. Since then, there’s been a predominantly black North Ward and a predominantly white South Ward. Every 10 years, the line is adjusted to keep populations and racial composition within guidelines.

Today, the line that separates the North and South wards begins at the Mississippi River at Fairground Street and runs along Bowmar Avenue, Stouts Bayou, Mission 66 and Clay Street.

Census numbers show about 11,799 residents in the North Ward and about 14,669 in the South. Young’s plan would even those numbers to 13,224 each by shifting the line south to include the Marcus Bottom area along Halls Ferry Road into the North Ward.