Jeannette Wolfberg in The Columbia Paper attempts to explain Hudson's intricate Common Council voting rules where one Fifth Ward vote “weighs” 364 under the city’s weighted vote system, while one First or Fourth Ward vote weighs 95. If you are confused, so are the folks from the Fair & Equal movement who are organizing to bring equal voting to each member of the council. The group is proposing new ward boundaries with equal populations through a referendum in November. If approved by voters, the new rules would take effect after the 2017 election, in 2018. The group is currently attempting to get signatures on petitions by July 6 for the November referendum. Press liaison Beth Kanaga, Kevin Hannan of Hudson Forward, Ted Gramkow, and Steve Dunn spoke in favor of the measure at a June 23 Hudson Area Library meeting. “A powerful consideration in redistricting is whether it would dis-empower racial minorities,” said Third Ward Supervisor Don Moore at the June 23 meeting. Dunn replied, “In our map, the Second Ward, which has the highest minority population,” has an advantage in the current system. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.