LEWISTON – A draft of new ward boundaries was too rough for city councilors Tuesday.

The plan would be shelved until after November’s election if councilors don’t adopt it at their regular meeting next week.

That would make the job for election judges more complex, said City Clerk Kathy Montejo, since the ward boundaries don’t match new Maine House of Representative districts.

“I would expect some mistakes to happen,” Montejo said. That’s what happened during the June primaries, when some voters received the wrong ballots, she said.

Montejo presented new ward boundaries that would have matched House districts almost exactly, while balancing the population in each ward at about 5,098 people.

The plan also moves Ward 6’s downtown voters into Wards 1, 3, 5 and 7. That would allow those voters to go to the polls much closer to their homes. To balance it out, Ward 6 would extend on its northwest boundary, taking over much of the outer areas of Wards 4 and 7.

But some of the changes bothered councilors such as Ward 2 Councilor Renee Bernier, whose ward would expand along the west.

“It just doesn’t make sense to me,” Bernier said. “There has to be a Plan B here. We are doing something that affects the whole community, and I don’t think we’re ready.”

Montejo said she would attempt to put together some alternatives before next week’s council meeting. But Bernier said that made her uncomfortable as well.

“You’re talking about something that would be in our packets on Friday that we’d vote on next Tuesday,” Bernier said. “I think we need more time. I think we need public input on this.”