Local Election Method Discriminates Voters
The "at-large" voting method for the Orange County Board of Education does not represent all voices.
Currently in Orange County, NC the method of voting for the local school board is a nonpartisan election and runoff election taking place on the primary ballot. The number of open seats varies from 3-4 seats every two years, this year it was three. The winners are determined by whoever receives the highest number of votes out of the entire county, equal to the number of available seats. Winners must receive at least 50% of the total votes cast for each seat. This method can be described as an “at-large” election. Often times when there is more than 1 seat open for elected positions candidates will run together to form a slate and voters are influenced to block vote (vote for all) to get that slate voted in together. The recent school board election on March 5th, resulted in a slate of 3 candidates winning, each receiving the top three highest individual number of votes countywide. The winners are Carrie Doyle with 18.45%, Wendy Padilla with 16.93% and Jennifer Moore with 16.50%. Those on the winning slate are all registered Democrats and were endorsed by progressive left groups. Even with the school board election being nonpartisan, political affiliation has a major influence in Orange County.
There was another slate of 3 candidates running for school board, Bonnie Hauser, Cindy Shriner and Michael Johnson, who did not individually get enough total votes in the county to make the overall top three. This slate is made up of 2 unaffiliated, one registered Democrat and endorsed by moderate, conservative, Republican and Democrat groups. However, the official vote count will not happen until March 15th. Currently, Jennifer Moore is 66 votes shy of receiving at least 50% of the total votes cast (6,563). If Moore gains enough provisional and absentee votes she will secure 1 of the 3 seats, if not then a runoff election can be requested by Bonnie Hauser who is next in line with the most votes.
Voting Precincts
The Orange County School district is divided into 17 voting precincts. All precincts are treated equally when representing its voters, meaning it doesn’t matter if a candidate received the most votes in a precinct, they still need to get the most votes from all precincts combined in order to win. This form of at-large voting is voter discrimination, as it does not represent the minority voters. This results in minority voters in the county not having their voices represented on the school board. Orange County school board elections politically lean Democratic, as there are more registered Democrats than Republicans. This has proven to be a challenge for Republican or unaffiliated candidates to win a school board seat. Any inkling that a candidate is “conservative” or even a moderate Democrat in Orange County is met with attacks by the majority of Democrat progressives, even though the election is nonpartisan. The last time a registered Republican sat on the Orange County School board was in 2002. This leaves voters who are in the minority party without representation among their local elected officials.
The results of the recent election show that the slate of 3 candidates (Hauser, Shriner, Johnson) that lost actually received the top three most votes in 7 out of 17 precincts, and individually received at least one spot in the top three in 12 out of 17 precincts. Compare this to the winning slate, who received the top three votes in 6 out of 17 precincts. Meaning 70% of the county prefers at least one, if not all three, of the “losing” candidates. However, due to the at-large voting system in place these voters do not have representation on the school board, creating a less inclusive board. So if a few neighborhoods band together to block vote on a slate of candidates all seats can be won even with a larger percent of voters preferring the “minority” candidates, it’s that simple.
Looking at the precinct map below for the Orange County School district it is quite clear how different areas of the county vote. The center precincts and precincts that border Chapel Hill/Carrboro vote for progressives. While the remaining surrounding precincts more predominately the northern precincts, vote for moderates/conservatives. However, due to the discriminatory at-large voting method in the county it does not matter how the majority of the precincts voted, leaving them with no representation, not even for one favored candidate out of three.
District Voting
Unlike the Board of Education election method in Orange County, the election for Orange County Commissioners uses a partisan-based district with an at-large voting method. The county is divided into two districts, each district has representation determined only by voters located in that district. Additionally, there are two at-large seats for the entire county. Voting happens the same way as all other elections in the county, except for school board, first a primary followed by the general election in November. One could argue that there is not equal representation with the way the county commissioner districts are currently divided and represented in the county; as Chapel Hill and Carrboro form one district with 3 board seats and the rest of the county forms the second district with only 2 board seats, with two at-large board seats. This setup gives more representation and control to the smaller area of Chapel Hill/Carrboro versus the larger area of the county with less representation. Voter discrimination still exists within a district voting system if the maps are not thoughtfully and equally designed.
Across NC, school board elections use varying voting methods. Some are partisan, others are nonpartisan, some are divided into voting districts, some are simply at-large, while some are a combination of both. For example in Anson County, seven school board members are elected from seven districts by voters in the districts and two members are elected at large, and it is partisan. The primary and general elections are held as any other partisan county election. In Wake County, school board members are elected by the nonpartisan election and runoff, nine members are elected from 9 districts, and seats alternate every 2 years held on the general election.
With a district voting method minority candidates have a chance to be elected and minority voices have a chance to be represented. Evidence of this was proven in the 1970s when San Fransisco changed to district voting and the first African American woman, Ella Hill Hutch, was voted to a local board, the first Asian-American, Gordon Lau, and the first openly gay candidate, Harvey Milk were also elected. Additionally in CA in the 1980s residents sued the city of Watsonville and won over its discriminatory at-large election system. There had never been a Latino candidate elected onto the local council even though the population of the city was almost 50% Latino.
Out of 109,037 registered voters in Orange County only 32,929 or 30.20% voted in the primary on March 5th. Many voters in the Orange County School district are unaware that the school board election is during the primary and that it is an actual election decided at that time. It does not carry over to the general election in November. Let this be a wakeup call to voters who are not happy with the outcome of the school board elections; talk to your friends and neighbors and educate them to go out and vote during the primary. If a runoff occurs between Bonnie Hauser and Jennifer Moore, get out and vote.
Possible Solutions to Curb Voter Discrimination for School Board Elections :
Remain at-large voting on the primary election, change to partisan
Remain at-large voting, move school board election to the general election, remain nonpartisan
Remain at-large voting , move school board election to the general election, change to partisan
Change school board election to district voting, remain on primary election, remain nonpartisan
Change school board election to district voting, move to the general election, remain nonpartisan
Change school board election to district voting with at-large seats, remain on primary election, remain nonpartisan
Change school board election to district voting with at-large seats, move to the general election, remain nonpartisan
Change school board election to district voting with at-large seats , move to the general election, change to partisan (same as county commissioners)
Bring a lawsuit to Orange County