Wake commissioners approve new districts, term changes. What that means for elections.
The Wake County Board of Commissioners will now be elected on four-year, staggered terms after leaders approved changes to local elections Monday.
Now, all seven members are elected every two years at the same time.
The board also voted to approve new residential districts based on the release of redistricting data from the U.S. Census Bureau during its meeting Monday afternoon.
As a result of the changes approved Monday, some commissioners will be in office longer than their original terms.
Wake County is required to redraw its districts after the Census to balance out the population among the districts. Over the last decade, Wake County added more than 228,000 people, resulting in the seven districts becoming imbalanced.
“We greatly appreciate the feedback we received from Wake County residents on these important topics,” said Wake County Commissioner Chair Matt Calabria in a news release. “As a board, we consider the public’s input invaluable when making any decision affecting Wake County residents. We’ve read every online submission and listened to every in-person comment.”
What new districts mean
Unlike some state and federal redistricting, moving districts on the county level doesn’t change who a resident may vote for.
Wake County’s seven elected commissioners represent the entire county and are voted on county-wide. But the commissioner must live in the district they represent. This prevents all of the county’s representation from living in one area or city.
Districts 2 and 3, held by Commissioners Calabria and Maria Cervania, were the largest of the former residential districts making up the southern and southwestern parts of the county.
Nearly 30,000 people in District 2 were moved to other districts while nearly 22,000 people in District 3 were moved to other districts.
The only district to remain the same was District 1, in the northeastern part of the county.
Lawsuit
In 2015, the N.C. General Assembly redrew the county’s districts, including two at-large districts. At the time, Democrats argued the districts were gerrymandered and an attempt to ensure GOP majorities on the local board. The vote came after Democrats took full control of the seven-person board in 2014.
A lawsuit was filed, and the districts were ruled unconstitutional. The Consent Order from that lawsuit required all the commissioners to be elected for two-year terms and all at the same time in 2018 and 2020.
The District 1, 2, 3 and 7 seats on the board will be up for countywide election in 2022 with the remaining seats, Districts 4, 5 and 6 up for countywide election in 2024.
This story was originally published November 1, 2021 at 7:29 PM.
