.
Murphy – A proposal seeking a referendum on whether to require in-district voting for Cherokee County Board of Commissioners seats received a lukewarm reception from commissioners last week.
John Worden of the Eastern Hot Rodder Association ran for District 3 commissioner in the May 2022 Republican primary (the primary was delayed from the usual March primary month because of COVID-19). He came in fourth with 688 votes. Ben Adams won the seat, with Mark Kephart finishing second and J.R. Carroll third.
District 3 encompasses Murphy and the surrounding area.
Worden has been circulating a petition to add a referendum to the November ballot about in-district voting. He said he collected hundreds of signatures because of a “need for better representation.”
Worden said some commissioners have won seats on the board without winning their home precincts, while Commissioner Jan Griggs lost in the March Republican primary despite winning her home precincts.
Worden approached the board of commissioners at its Aug. 19 meeting and asked the board to add it to the November ballot. While it’s too late to add the referendum to the November ballot, a referendum could be added to a future ballot.
Most of North Carolina’s counties have countywide elections for commissioner seats. Exceptions are counties with large populations.
Worden spoke during the public comment period. The board of commissioners’ policy prevents board members from commenting on public comments or taking action, but that didn’t stop them at this meeting.
District 1 Commissioner Cal Stiles, who lost his local precincts but won the rest of the county, had a few issues with the proposal. He said it would lead to “silo voting.” Mirriam-Webster Dictionary defines silo as “an isolated grouping.”
“Why would you want to vote for just one when you can vote for all five?” Stiles said, adding that the current system results in commissioners more responsive to the entire county.
The current system of five county commissioners from districts but elected countywide was instituted to address the possibility that a majority of board members would be from one area of the county – namely, Murphy, the primary population center.
At one point, the board went to a five-member board, with two at-large and three districts, County Manager Randy Wiggins told the Scout.
“Everyone voted for all,” he said. “The three districts had to be candidates from those specific districts, and the two at-large could be from anywhere.
“The issue here that I recall people having was that you could have three of the five board members from the same district and therefore a majority of the board all from a single district. Because of this, they determined to change the two at-large seats to two additional district seats and maps were drawn up to create five districts from the original three.
“I believe this is done to attempt to equalize population as much as possible. Once developed, the State Board of Elections must approve.”
The current system ensures representation from all five districts but allows voters to vote in all five races.
Commissioner Dan Eichenbaum, who won his local precincts, said turning to in-district voting for commissioner would result in the same kind of divisive politics that occur in Washington.
“The way it is, we always have to do what is best for the entire county, all the time,” he said.
Griggs said she supports in-district voting. “Who knows a person better than the ones they live with?” she asked.
Eichenbaum suggested four in-district seats and three at-large seats could be a compromise and more balanced solution that he favors. Griggs also liked that idea, as did Commissioner Ben Adams, who said more study is needed.
The board took no action on Worden’s request.