NATCHEZ &045; The leader of a concerned citizens group said this week that the Adams County Election Commission is redrawing district lines illegally.

But Election Commissioner Larry Gardner said the commission is not redrawing lines, but only placing voters in their proper district and precinct based on lines already approved by the U.S. Justice Department.

District 1 supervisor candidate Mike Lazarus said Gardner stated to him that Lazarus is no longer in District 1, although his address has not changed.

&uot;They moved me to District 2,&uot; Lazarus said at a Wednesday meeting of the organization The Watchful Eye of Concerned Citizens. &uot;I’ve been voting in District 1 for the past six, seven years.&uot;

Aleadra Dunkley, the group’s president and spokeswoman, said Justice Department officials told her this week that &uot;as of January (1), when people started qualifying, there shouldn’t have been any means at all to change or redistrict anything.

&uot;If they (election commissioners) are redistricting and moving candidates now, they are in violation&uot; of federal law, Dunkley said.

&uot;I have been contacted by the Justice Department, Š and there is an investigation into what’s going on,&uot; Circuit Clerk M.L. &uot;Binkey&uot; Vines told those at Wednesday’s meeting.

The street on which Lazarus lives, Lazarus Estates Road, was not on any of the commission’s maps, Gardner said. He said that when E-911 sent over a list of new street names, it was determined that Lazarus should have been voting in District 2 all along. Lazarus also stated that Gardner told him Lazarus could use his business address as his residence address &045; a charge Gardner denies.

&uot;I never told him any such thing. I told him I cannot get involved in that issue,&uot; Gardner said.

&uot;I only told him he had the opportunity to move his residence, Š but the only one who can make that determination is the Democratic Committee.&uot;

Chris Herren, a redistricting attorney and one of Dunkley’s contacts at the Justice Department, would not comment. Instead, he referred questions to the department’s Public Affairs Division, which did not release a statement Thursday.

It was alleged by several of those attending The Watchful Eye’s meeting that selective drawing of lines was being done to eliminate challengers running against the current incumbents.

However, Gardner pointed out that the Adams County Board of Supervisors approved sending a map of district lines to the Justice Department in November 2001 for approval.

Hearings were advertised to allow the public to review the lines before they were submitted, &uot;and they ran the legal notices several different times,&uot; Gardner said. The Justice Department approved the lines in November 2002.

&uot;We (election commissioners) are not redrawing anything,&uot; Gardner said. &uot;We are simply placing voters in the proper precinct in the correct district so that we can send out postcards to them in the next 30 to 45 days telling them where to vote.&uot;

At Wednesday’s meeting, District 5 supervisor candidate Spanky Felter also stated that Gardner told him he didn’t know whether or not Felter would be in District 5. Gardner said Felter never asked him that question.