The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1925-01-15
Civic Council to Recon-
mend Re-districting of
City Wards.
TO EQUALIZE BOARDS
Plans Would Give City More
Nearly Deserved Repre-
sentatiOn on Boards.

The city council at its next meet
ing is to be asked to re-district the
wards of the city in accordance with
a standard schedule based on the
polling list Of the last general cleo
tion. This action was taken, at meet
ing of the Kenosha Civic council held
in the city hall on Monday evening
which was called to consider and dis
cuss such a plan as that finally adopt
ed and ordered placed before the city
fathers for action. The recommends
ton as adopted calls for the creation
of twelve equal wards of two precincts
each.
A committee consisting of H. HI
Harff, chairman, assisted by Elmer
Smith, Robert S. Cooper, George s.
Whyte, J. d. Rosenblum and Joseph
A. Pitts, was appointed recently to
make a full investigation Of polling
conditions in Kenosha and report a
definite recommendation of what
could be done to remedy the admitted
deficiencies now existing in all OF
the wards of the city.
Find Many Disadvantages.
The committee spent considerable
time in several sessions with official
records, maps, tabulation and other
data, and after this careful study sub
mitted the following findings to the
Civic council on Monday evening:
/. There is a lack of uniformity
in the number of voters per ward
some wards having twice as many
voters as others.
2. There has been large increase
in population since the city was redis-
tricted into nine wards, and the en-
reimbursement of women has doubled
the number of potential voters.
5. Election booths are not central
ly located in the districts they serve
necessitating considerable travel by
the voters to reach the polling place
4. 1t is hardship on housewives
and mothers to be forced to leave
their homes for the length of time
now required to get to the polls to
vote.
5. 1t is undesirable from the point
of Americanization and good govern.
ment to present difficulties in the
way of voters in casting their ballots
6. 1t is difficult to handle large
numbers of voters in the time allotted
by law because voting is not evenly
distributed throughout the day, but
occurs in peaks.
Would Facilitate Work.
T. Accuracy in counting and tabu
lating ballots has not been had to the
degree possible where the voting sub
divisions are smaller. The number Of
recounts in recent years bears this
out.
8. The city has 80 per cent of the
population of the county and pays
about 50 per cent of the taxes of the
county, yet has nine members on the
county board to eight members for the
rest of the county.
| A short discussion Of these points
| followed the recommendation in which
additions to the county boad of super
visors and the board of education
were pointed out. The legal status O
such action was also discussed, to
gether with the possible cost of sucl
action. In every case it was agree'
that the end justified the means.
With these facts pointed out befor'
the council that body recommends
that the matter be placed before thu
city council urging the redistricting o
the city of Kenosha into twelve ward
of two precincts each, based on tn
polling list of the last election. Tha
members of the city council woul
consider the recommendation of tn
Civic council favorably was indicate,
at the meeting, and it is possible tina
some action will be taken at the mex
meeting of the council.