Agenda - 09-02-2021; 12-8 - Information Item - Memorandum - Transmittal of the Final Report from the BOCC Elections Advisory Group (BEAG) on the Process for Electing County Commissioners in Orange County

Browse Search

78 tions to a mix of at-large and single- council members, the county commis- Ven in the absence member districts, using the same dis- sioners,and the school board members. Ement, of a statutory require- tricts for both the commissioners and the For cities and school systems,no partic- school board members. The deviation ular procedures are specified.For coun- . . . city council between the most populous district and ties the statute sets out a requirement members, county commis- the least populous district was 8.33 per- that the commissioners find as a fact cent,well within the 10 percent rule.But "whether there is substantial inequality sioners, and school board if the comparison had been based solely of population among the districts.1121 members are obligated by on voting-age population (that is, not The commissioners should by formal the oaths they take (in counting people under age eighteen),the action make such a finding. For "sub- deviation would have been 16.17 per- stantial inequality" the board may rely which they pledge to cent. This difference arises because the on the 10 percent rule,described earlier. uphold the U.S. Consti- proportion of people under eighteen is If the commissioners find that there is a higher among nonwhites than among substantial inequality, they may draw tution)—and should be whites,so districts with high concentra- new districts. motivated by the fear of liability in a lawsuit—to redraw districts promptly to redress imbalances. voTrr? Left,a precinct official assists a voter P11.R)(J with disabilities. Below,a young mother votes while her son looks on. y - o 0 tions of nonwhites will have a lower pro- Should you embody the new portion of voting-age people than dis- districts in an ordinance or a tricts with high concentrations of whites. resolution or some other action? In a lawsuit the claim was put forward For counties the statute requires that that this 16.17 percent deviation among the redefined districts be set out in a the voting age population violated the resolution.24 For cities and school sys- one-person/one-vote principle.The fed- tems,the statutes do not specify partic- eral district court agreed,but the federal ular forms. Cities may employ either circuit court of appeals overturned the ordinances or resolutions; if the elec- district court's decision,holding that the tion districts were embodied in an ordi- constitutional requirements are satisfied nance the last time they were drawn, by deviations under 10 percent based on the city should stick to the ordinance total population as reflected in the cen- format. School boards do not have the sus.22 This federal appeals court decision authority to adopt ordinances,so a res- cites with favor the North Carolina olution is the proper format. total-population statutes. For cities and counties, there are direct statutory requirements that city o What procedures are required? and county maps show the boundaries.21 There is no corresponding requirement 0 The statutes clearly place the authority for school systems;nonetheless,a map is for redistricting in the hands of the city imperative. z POPULAR GOVERNMENT SPRING ZOO1 7