Orange County NC Website
12 <br /> Dr. Hazirjian said the current system is among the worst legal options. She said at- <br /> large elections are largely discouraged due to discriminatiroy impacts on racial minorities. Multi <br /> district seats are confusing, and survey respondants agreed that only residents in the district <br /> should vote for those who represent them. <br /> Patrick Mulkey resumed the PowerPoint presentation: <br /> Slide #11 <br /> 2) The BEAD recommends seven single membe <br /> residency districts where candidates living in the distric <br /> are voted on in both the primary and general electioi <br /> by only the voters in the respective districts (TruE <br /> Election District)_ One member voted against thi- <br /> option, believing that the county could benefit fron <br /> some at-large districts. <br /> Dr. Hazirjian continued the PowerPoint presentation. She said only BOCC has the <br /> authority to adopt new distict maps. She said many see it as a conflict of interest when elected <br /> officials can draw own district maps, so an independent party would help with this. She said <br /> there are many experts in this area locally. <br /> Slide #12 <br /> 3) The BEAD strongly recommends that the Board at <br /> Commissioners establish a multi-partisarVnen-partisar <br /> independent advisory group and process in order to create <br /> the seven single member districts. The BERG recommends <br /> that the criteria outlined in the Charge (Constitutionality, <br /> statutory requirements; voting rights law, proportionality, <br /> equity, uniformity, §j� clarity and maximizing voter <br /> engagement)be paramount in drawing districts_ In addition, <br /> the drawing of districts should keep communities of interesl <br /> intact (geographic, socio-economic and racial-ethnic) anc <br /> avoid splitting precincts. <br />