In the year following any 10 year Federal Census, communities are required to look at their voting districts and determine if voting districts need to be adjusted to maintain “one person, one vote”.

Pasquotank County has begun the process and will finish by the November 17th, 2021 deadline imposed by the NC General Assembly.

Pasquotank County is governed by a seven-member Board of Commissioners, elected at-large and from districts in county-wide elections to serve four-year staggered terms. Four members must reside in specified districts, and three members are elected at-large. The Board elects a Chairman and Vice-Chairman at its December meeting.

The law office of Tharrington Smith, LLP of Raleigh, NC will be serving as outside council to verify that all election laws are being followed.

Click here to view the CURRENT commissioner districts.

The following timeline will be updated and contains information that will explain the process in detail.

July 12, 2021 - GIS Manager, Julie Stamper, presented an overview of the redistricting process to the Board of Commissioners.

Key points from that presentation were

• The county is under a Consent Order and Local Act designating the BOC be three at large seats and four districts “of which one district would have at least a 55% black voting age population”

• Based on a 2013 US Supreme Court ruling, Section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act was vacated and US Department of Justice pre-clearance is no longer necessary.

• Traditional redistricting principles of Compactness, Contiguity, Respect for political subdivisions, Respect for Communities of Interest along with the requirement of at least one district with a minimum of a 55% minority population would be used to create new districts.

• Redistricting Census Data would be released August 15th or 16th

• Approved redistricting plans were required by the State of NC by November 17th.

• Once possible plans were drawn they would be widely available on the website, published in the Daily Advance, on the Pasquotank County Facebook page, at the library and in the County Manager’s office. Public input would be accepted at County Commissioner meetings, via email and at the website.

Following the presentation, the Pasquotank County Board of Commissioners passed the following resolution.

 RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING AN OPEN, TRANSPARENT AND NONPARTISAN PROCEDURE FOR THE 2021 REDISTRICTING OF THE PASQUOTANK COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 

WHEREAS state statutes require that the Pasquotank County Board of Commissioners redraw the Board’s districts following the decennial Census to reflect the current population, and 

WHEREAS the resulting county redistricting plan will be used to elect members of the Pasquotank County Board of Commissioners throughout the coming decade, and 

WHEREAS the redistricting plans developed should accurately reflect the county’s composition and diversity and strengthen county communities’ representation on the Board of Commissioners, and 

WHEREAS an open and transparent redistricting process that encourages resident citizen input and incorporates such input into the district maps leads to better community representation, and 

WHEREAS such a process facilitates public input and involvement in the redistricting process, protects the integrity of neighborhoods and communities, and respects the principles of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Pasquotank County Board of Commissioners commits to establishing an open and transparent redistricting process that will adhere to the principles set out above and will support resident citizen involvement throughout the 2021 redistricting process, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the process adopted should:  i) promote accountability and transparency; ii) prohibit the consideration of voting patterns and party registration information and iii) use demographic information only to the extent necessary to ensure minority representation as required by the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Commissioners commits to adopting a redistricting process providing for: i) firm timelines announced publicly  in advance, ii) prompt public communication of draft plans, iii) timely posting of maps and other information via website and through publication in local news outlets, such as the Daily Advance, iv) well-promoted open public meetings on the maps, and v) resident citizen ability to review proposed maps, submit comments, and propose improvements, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution should be announced publicly as a testament to the Board’s commitment to an open and transparent process that informs and engages the public; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Pasquotank County Board of Commissioners encourages the NC General Assembly to adopt procedures for the 2021 legislative and congressional redistricting embodying the above principles, processes, and measures in order to secure our resident citizens’ right to participate fully and effectively in the 2021 redistricting process and to strengthen their representation in these elected bodies.

 ADOPTED the 12st day of July, 2021

August 12th, 2021 - Census redistricting data was released.

September 13th, 2021 - At the Regular Board of Commissioner Meeting, GIS Manager Julie Stamper, presented information about the Census and how it impacts the redistricting process.

Key Points from that presentation -

• The 2020 population for Pasquotank County is 40,568, down -93 (or -0.2%) from the 2010 Census. It was noted that the enrollment of Elizabeth City State University has declined about 1,300 students from 2010 so Pasquotank County saw an actual growth of about 1,300 new residents.

• The White Only population has declined from 56.7% in 2010 to 54.3% in 2020. Similarly, the Black Only population has declined from 37.7% in 2010 to 35.7% in 2020. Mixed Race and other races (Native American, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Asian) have doubled from 5.5% to 10%.

• The Commissioner Districts population, with current districts is as follows

Northern Outside 10,458 with 25.6% Minority population
Northern Inside 11,129 37.9%
Southern Inside 9,081 61.9%
Southern Outside 9,900 19.7%

• The Ideal District Size is 10,142, with a range of 9,635 to 10,649. The Northern Inside and Southern Inside districts are outside that range, therefore redistricting must proceed.

After the presentation, the Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to direct staff to proceed with redistricting.

October 12th, 2021

Summary of the proposed changes to the voting districts

The 2020 Census showed a considerable shift in our population. Part of this was due to the decrease in student enrollment at Elizabeth City State University (a temporary situation) and substantial growth in the Walmart/Tanglewood area with Stockbridge and Tanglewood apartments.

Based on the 2020 Census, the populations in the four commissioner districts was

Northern Outside            10,458
Northern Inside              11,129    
Southern Inside                9,081    
Southern Outside             9,900

With our current total population of 40,568, the “Ideal District Size” is 10,142. Our districts must fall between 9,635 and 10,649. By this metric, the Northern Inside and Southern Inside lay outside those limits and thus Redistricting must happen. Commissioners voted at the September 15th, 2021 meeting for staff to proceed with redistricting.

When looking at the current map and trying to minimize changes and create the fewest ballot styles by staying within current and unchanging voting precincts (where you vote), a few areas stood out as places that needed to be adjusted.  This proposal also maintains a majority minority population in the Southern Inside district.

Area 1:

From left to right, moving the area north of 17, the new apartments behind Food Lion (old Farm Fresh), Oxford Heights  out of the Northern Inside District, and moving the area around the Pasquotank Water Department and EC Maintenance  office  out of the Southern Inside District leads to more compact districts while balancing the population.

 Moving those areas brings 569 people, 337 of them minority, from Northern Inside to Southern Inside.

The change around the Water Department moves 72 people into the Northern Inside District, for a net increase of 497 to Southern Inside and loss of 497 to Northern Inside

Area 2

2 very small areas were moved to clean up boundaries. One was the largely farmland area bounded by Body Rd, the Oak Grove subdivision and more farm land that has 5 residents, and a block of 34 people bounded by Horner St, Francis St, Parkview Dr and Park St. No map is shown but they will be moved into the appropriate district.

Area 3

This is a larger area but a substantial number of people needed to be moved from Northern Inside to Southern Inside. The area west of River Rd, which has seen a lot of growth and includes Heron’s Ridge, Elizabeth City Gardens and Old Coast Guard Housing is currently in the Northern Inside District.

Moving that area moves 877 people, 363 minority, from Northern Inside to Southern Inside to help balance the population.

Area 4

Moving the Forest Park subdivision west of Forest Park Rd, from Northern Outside to Northern Inside and to make up for it, moving Brite Meadows from Northern Inside to Northern Outside.

Besides following precinct lines better, the areas are better aligned with their similar subdivisions.

The Forest Park area contains 335 residents while the Brite Meadows area contains 401 people, a net INCREASE of 66 people for Northern Outside.

Area 5

The last area to be changed is the Red Oak Subdivision and the area south of 17. This area was moved into the Southern Inside at the last redistricting to give the Southern Inside the needed population numbers, however it is not in city limits and doesn’t seem a community of interest with the Southern Inside District.

This change moves 455 people from Southern Inside to Southern Outside.

Final Map

After cleaning up the districts based on precinct lines, and making a few minor changes in some areas with no residents, the population numbers with minority percentages are:

                                                      Population                   Percent Minority
Northern Outside                            10,526                                   25.4%
Northern Inside                                  9,653                                   36.7%
Southern Inside                               10,029                                   61.1%
Southern Outside                            10,360                                   20.6%

The above numbers are within the required 9,635 and 10,649 range while maintaining a majority minority district. While the Northern Inside is close to the bottom of the range, it contains the highest growth areas and in real current population, it is probably closer to the other districts. Projected populations can’t be used for redistricting purposes, but keeping it on the low side will keep the balance more even into the future.

Click here for a searchable interactive map with current districts, proposed districts and precincts.

• Comments about the redistricting process can be sent to redistricting@co.pasquotank.nc.us

FUTURE TIMELINE

October 18th, 2021 - Board of Commissioners Meeting - Citizen Input into Redistricting - 6pm Courtroom C.

November 15th, 2021 - Board of Commissioner Meeting - Public Hearing on Proposed Redistricting Plan - 6pm Courtroom C

November 17th, 2021 - Approved Redistricting Plan will be forwarded to the NC State Board of Elections.