Agenda - 05-05-2005-1a - Laserfiche WebLink

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5 Orange County Board of Commissioners Page 5 NIay 2, 2005 election system for board of education members which apportioned based on "voting age population."' Previously the federal courts had approved North Carolina's "total population" districting system for members of the General Assembly and the same system for boards of commissioners, Voting age population was determined by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina in Cannon to contain no "constitutional transgression" and to satisfy the "one person, one vote" requirement, That decision was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, The District Court in the Cannon case cited the Daily v, Hunt case (discussed in my 1996 letter to you), noting that federal courts should generally defer to the State's choice (and to the local government's choice) of apportionment base whether it is total population or, as in the case of the Durham School Board merger plan, voting age population. The statute authorizing restructuring of boards of commissioners, N. C.. Gen. Stat. § 153A-58, with respect to its wholly or partially "nominate and elect" by districts modes, uses total population as the basis for districts, I am told that the districts proposed in. House Bill 913 also are based on total population. The staff report will be presented to you at your work session on May 5, 2005.. Following that work session Z will work together with the Manager and his staff as you direct to provide any additional information. Very truly yours, COLEMAN, GLEDHILL, HAR.GRAVE & PEEK, P.C. C,EG/lsg Enclosures lsg: letters\bdofcom district ren ltr,doc 11 'This plan was designed, at the request of the Durham County Board of Commissioners, by Gerry Cohen, Director of Legislative Drafting, North Carolina General Assembly. Gerry Cohen, at the request of Representative Faison, also designed the plan in House Bill 913.