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23 <br />Cumulative Voting <br />What is cumulative voting? Is cumulative voting permissible in North Carolina for boards <br />of commissioners' elections? Would Orange County need special legislation from the <br />North Carolina General Assembly to consider /implement a cumulative voting method for <br />seats on the Board of Commissioners? <br />Cumulative voting is method of election that is utilized in the United States primarily by <br />corporations and to a lesser extent local governmental entities across the country. This <br />method allows minority shareholders to have a greater chance of electing corporate <br />officers and has been adopted in some local jurisdictions specifically to rectify voting <br />rights violations. Cumulative voting is specifically recognized in North Carolina law for <br />corporate voting. <br />Cumulative voting works by allocating a specific number of votes to all voters, five for <br />example. In an election with three candidates an individual voter may choose to place all <br />five votes on a single candidate or allocate the five votes among the three candidates. <br />By pooling votes to a single candidate minority groups have a greater chance of electing <br />a candidate of their choice. <br />There appears to be no violation of the "one person, one vote" principle in a cumulative <br />voting setup due both to the fact that often it is implemented as a means of rectifying <br />voting rights violations and because each voter has the same number of votes. If the <br />Board were to select cumulative voting for Orange County Commissioner elections the <br />Board must seek special legislative authority from the General Assembly. <br />