By D. Lars Dolder, Chatham News + Record Staff
With state-authorized election delays for district-organized municipalities all but certain, Chatham voters can expect another unusual election season for 2021.
Senate Bill 722 — which the General Assembly ratified last week and Gov. Roy Cooper is expected to approve — will delay some 2021 municipal elections until March 2022 to accommodate tardy census data.
Every 10 years, municipalities, cities and states must assess their respective voting districts and amend them to uphold the “one person, one vote” principle: that every resident is entitled to fair and equal representation by districts of roughly equal population. Districts need not change if the population has been largely inert over the previous decade, but that scenario is unlikely for Chatham municipalities, which have evolved considerably in recent years.
Redistricting is due this year, but to draw new maps municipalities need up-to-date census data, which will not arrive in time for the November election following pandemic disruptions. There are 62 municipalities statewide with 2021 elections scheduled that organize by districts or wards. Of those, 35 elect town representatives by voting districts. The other 27 “use districts or wards but don’t elect people by them,” N.C. State Board of Elections Communication Specialist Noah Grant previously told the News + Record. “They use them for filing purposes.”
In Chatham, only Siler City and portions of Cary inside Chatham elect town officials by voting districts, and will likely host their town elections in March 2022. Town officials whose seats would normally have expired in November — including six commissioners and Siler City’s vacant mayor’s seat — will have their terms extended accordingly. (See below for a complete list of expiring municipal offices.)
“Now we’ll still have a November election,” said Pandora Paschal, director of Chatham County’s board of elections. “But it’ll be for the Town of Pittsboro and the Town of Goldston, and the Goldston-Gulf Sanitary District.”
Chatham County Board of Elections Director Pandora Paschal, Chatham County Commissioner Karen Howard and her son receive a demonstration from a representative of ES&S two weeks ago during a public demonstration of election equipment.
Despite separating Siler City’s and Cary’s elections from the regular schedule, the delay is unlikely to complicate organization for the county’s election board. Instead of running a second round of standalone elections for municipal offices, the board will pair them with 2022’s primary elections, also to be held in March.
“People will turn out anyway in the primaries,” Paschal said. “The Sheriff’s Office will be up. There’s (N.C.) House 54, maybe Senate, I’m not sure. So people will already be coming out for those … It’s not like they’re coming out for an extra town election, they’re just coming out the same time as the primary.”
In past board meetings, Siler City’s commissioners expressed apprehension over the potential for delayed elections citing fear that confusion might prevent voters from casting their ballots. But Paschal suspects the opposite could be true.
“If anything — and I’m not sure if this will have an effect — but it could actually drive up their turnout,” she said. “Usually they’re just voting on town councils and mayors. In the primary, if there are primaries for the Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians or whoever, people are going to be coming out to vote for them who probably wouldn’t normally come out and vote in the town elections even though they’re eligible.”
Paschal is glad the General Assembly interceded to standardize necessary election delays, she said, but fears the disruption in regular protocol may still frustrate voters. She hopes they’ll approach the board of elections directly to find accurate information about impending adjustments.
“Our legislators make the rules,” she said, “but sometimes when there’s delays and it drags on, and it slows down the administration, it’s kind of hard for people when the information doesn’t seem concrete. So, we try to cut out as much misinformation as possible — there sure is enough of that already.”
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