§ 7.02. Wards; ward residency requirements; elections at large.

(a)

On and after March 1, 1989, each councilman and six (6) of the Cartersville School Board members shall be elected, with one (1) of each such officials being elected from each of the six (6) wards of the city, as hereafter defined, by the qualified voters who reside in the ward from which each such councilman and each such school board member seeks office. The mayor and one (1) school board member shall be elected by the qualified voters of the entire city at large.

(b)

The City of Cartersville shall be divided into six wards to be numbered ward one through ward six having such metes and boundaries and limits to be prescribed as follows:

(1)

By July 15, 1989, the city council shall divide the city into six (6) wards as nearly equal as possible according to the population in each ward. Variations in population among such wards shall comply with the one-person-one-vote requirements of the United States Constitution. The wards shall consist of areas which are bounded on all sides only by:

(A)

Visible features which are readily distinguishable upon the ground, such as streets, railroad tracks, streams, lakes, and ridges, and which are indicated upon official Department of Transportation maps; or

(B)

The boundaries of counties and incorporated municipalities.

(2)

The council, in dividing the city into six (6) wards, shall use the 1980 United States decennial census as the basis and guide, taking into consideration any annexations extending the city limits since 1980; and

(3)

The city council shall, after every United States census, realign the wards of the City of Cartersville to make them as nearly equal in population as possible, in the same manner as prescribed above.

(c)

After the council has determined the way in which the wards should be divided, according to the guidelines specified in subsection (b) of this section, it shall have a map prepared which clearly shows the six (6) separate wards. The city council shall, within thirty (30) days prior to the establishment of any new ward boundaries, publish a notice of such changes once a week for two (2) weeks in the official organ of the county and post a conspicuous notice of such changes in at least five (5) public and conspicuous places in each affected ward. At least one (1) such notice shall be posted at or in the immediate vicinity of the polling place or places. Each notice shall state the date upon which adoption of such changes is proposed to be made and shall direct interested persons to address their comments or questions to the election superintendent.

(d)

No councilman nor member of the Cartersville School Board shall be disqualified from completing his or her term of office by virtue of the realignment changing his or her residence from one (1) ward to another.

(Ga. Laws 1989, p. 4727, § 7)