Bethlehem Township wants to have its voting district map redrawn in time for the next election.
Township commissioners on Monday agreed to advertise an ordinance that will rework the boundaries of the community's four wards in order to make their populations more evenly distributed.
The current boundaries show the township's first ward with 5,100 people, 5,200 in the second ward, 6,500 in the third ward and 6,800 in the fourth.
Under federal law, a municipality can't have more than a 10 percent deviation in population between wards, said township solicitor James Broughal.
So the township staff began looking at ways to fix the problem, and on Monday presented commissioners with a new map.
"We tried to make as few changes as possible, and we really wanted to keep the feel of the districts the same," said Melissa Shafer, township manager.
To that end, they're proposing a switch that will have Ward 2 expand into Ward 3, and parts of Wards 1 and 3 expand into Ward 4.
It will leave all four wards with roughly 5,900 people.
Shafer said the township will work with Northampton County to notify voters of the changes, which will be reflected on new community maps.
The new district boundaries should also be available on the township website by the end of the week, she said.
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