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2 <br /> Board review the current method of election for the members of the Board, which entailed all <br /> five members of the Board being nominated and elected to staggered four-year terms on an at- <br /> large basis. <br /> The Board pursued a series of discussions and meetings over the next sixteen months including <br /> public hearings, Board discussions on possible draft district maps/plans for potentially either a <br /> five or seven-member Board, and decisions on specific map/plan issues. <br /> The public hearings and discussions led to the development of a map/plan (identified in 2006 as <br /> "Proposal D") for a seven-member board that met all statutory requirements. The County <br /> Attorney prepared a draft resolution calling for a November 2006 referendum in concert with <br /> "Proposal D", and the Board approved that resolution and the election plan/map at the June 27, <br /> 2006 regular meeting. The approved resolution and election map/plan are provided at <br /> Attachment 1. The population deviations for the approved 2006 map/plan are provided at <br /> Attachment 2. <br /> In the November 2006 referendum, the voters subsequently approved the election plan/map <br /> with more than two-thirds supporting the initiative. The election plan/map was implemented with <br /> the May 2008 primary election and all seven members of the Board have since been qualified <br /> and elected under the plan. <br /> PRIOR REVIEW OF DISTRICT ELECTIONS MAP BASED ON 2010 CENSUS <br /> The final numbers for the 2010 Census published in 2011 provided new population numbers for <br /> Orange County as a whole as well as for the two current electoral districts. North Carolina <br /> General Statute 153A-22 states, "If a county is divided into electoral districts for the purpose of <br /> nominating or electing persons to the board of commissioners, the board of commissioners may <br /> find as a fact whether there is substantial inequality of population among the districts." <br /> Population growth or decline in districts can lead to significant deviations in the numbers of <br /> residents between districts, thereby compromising the integrity of the districts and the election <br /> plan as a whole. Therefore a board of commissioners may, but is not required to, review the <br /> impact of the new Census numbers to determine if there is substantial inequality. <br /> Attachment 3 is a map showing the current electoral districts along with the population numbers <br /> based on the 2010 census. In the 2006 adopted plan (Attachments 1 and 2), Orange County <br /> met its goal of keeping the population deviations within five percent of the exact population <br /> totals for each district, less than a total of ten percent deviation (referred to nationally as the Ten <br /> Percent Rule). Attachment 3 showed that Districts 1 and 2 were still within the Ten Percent <br /> Rule deviation criteria based on the 2010 Census data. Since the Districts were, combined, <br /> within the ten percent deviation allowed by law there can be no finding of substantial inequality. <br /> Without a violation of the Ten Percent Rule, it is highly unlikely that any group or individual could <br /> make any rational argument that there is substantial inequality between the districts. It is even <br /> more unlikely that any judicial challenge to a decision not to redistrict could survive a summary <br /> judgment in the County's favor. <br /> REVIEW OF DISTRICT ELECTIONS MAP BASED ON 2020 CENSUS <br /> The 2020 Census information for Orange County was published on August 12, 2021. <br /> Attachment 4 is a map showing the current electoral districts along with the population numbers <br /> based on the 2020 Census. Attachment 4 shows that Districts 1 and 2 are once again within the <br />