George,

According to my analysis, approximately 9,900 of Charlottesville's 40,000 plus residents are University of Virginia students. Apparently most of them are registered to vote elsewhere or are not registered anywhere.

Consequently, they are counted in population data to determine an appropriate distribution of population among wards, but few of them are voters.

More information is needed about their spatial distribution and their voting behavior.

Because they tend to be concentrated near the University, drawing ward boundaries that reflect voters rather than residents will be difficult. The more wards are used, the bigger the disparities among actual voters are likely to occur.

Bill Lucy (electronic mail, May 17, 2006)