§ 14-61-109 - Determination of ward positions. - Arkansas Statutes

14-61-109. Determination of ward positions.

If a city affected by this chapter chooses to select some of its members by ward, the ward positions shall be determined as follows:

(1) The county board of election commissioners of the county shall divide the territory of the city into the number of wards having substantially equal population, according to the most recently published federal census of population in the city, equal to the number of members of the governing board to be elected from wards;

(2) The county board of election commissioners shall complete its apportionment of the respective districts from which members of the governing board of the cities shall be elected and shall file it with the county clerk of the county and with the city clerk of the applicable city;

(3) The districts or wards so established by the board, unless changed or modified by order of a court of competent jurisdiction, shall be the wards of the city from which each of the respective members of the governing body of the city are to be elected;

(4) Following each federal decennial census of population, and following any special federal census of population within a particular city, if there has been a substantial change in the population of the wards from the preceding federal census, the county board of election commissioners shall reapportion the wards in each city in the manner and procedure as provided in this subsection from which the members of the governing board are to be elected;

(5) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other act, candidates for ward positions shall be residents of the ward they wish to represent. Unless the electors choose otherwise, only those qualified electors residing in a ward may vote on a candidate from that ward.