Agenda item 2 - Additional Discussion Regarding the Election Method for Members of the Orange County Board of Commissioners

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32 Chair Dorosin said a fair voting system does not mean that everyone gets to elect whomever they want. He said if the minority is small enough, it will not be able to overcome the majority. He said the question is whether or not the system is created fairly. Commissioner Marcoplos agreed, and said the point of cumulative voting is that everyone has a chance. He said in general elections the Commissioners are usually an afterthought, since people vote their party. Commissioner Marcoplos said for a Republican to win, he /she must appeal on the issues across the County. He said if the County moved to having just two districts, and no at- large positions, break down might be five commissioners in district 1, and 2 in district 2; based on population. He said this would make residents in the rural part of the County very upset. Commissioner Marcoplos asked if the legislature was asked to consider cumulative voting for Orange County, would it give a yes or no answer. Commissioner Jacobs said, if invited in, the legislature could change it to whatever it pleased, as seen in Greensboro and Wake County. Commissioner Jacobs referred to the issue of independent voters, and said this is an increasingly larger group. He said the BOCC should gather more information on this group. He said he is more interested in finding out how to get these people to run, than he is in messing with the districts. He said candidates should run on issues. Chair Dorosin asked John Roberts if having non - partisan elections would require legislative approval. John Roberts said yes. Commissioner Price referred to Commissioner Jacobs' comments, and said in other states one has to be registered with a party to vote in a primary. Commissioner McKee said he just wanted to tweak the system, not to change it. He said he believes it is a perception problem, rather than a real problem. He said it has been over a hundred years since a republican was elected in Orange County. He said anyone who is elected to the BOCC, and tries to be a disruptive force, will find themselves up against other Commissioners who will not put up with it. He said any changes that are made should be those that can be made in house, and not involve the legislature. Commissioner McKee said his intent is to alleviate the perception of inequity. He said he does not believe there really is much inequity, but there is the perception of such. Chair Dorosin summarized the discussion: • Two ideas that require legislative approval, and BOCC would like more information: cumulative and non - partisan voting • District nominate /district election- • Get rid of at large positions- and have two districts • More information on voter registrations in district • Updated census data Greg Wilder said to have all seven seats elected by district, the district lines would need to be redrawn, moving 4,000 people from district 1 to district 2, which would result in four commissioner seats in District 1, and three seats in District 2. Chair Dorosin said his intent was to have two multi- member districts. He said to have seven individual districts would result in pizza slices coming out of Chapel Hill, and some districts would violate other principles of drawing districts, such as having communities of shared interest, etc. He said there could not be district blocks throughout the County, due to the density of the population in certain areas. 4. Closed Session - Canceled