Justice Department rejects non-partisan voting

After months of waiting, Kinston citizens heard the U.S. Justice Department’s views on non-partisan voting this week.

Its view did not agree with Kinston’s voters.

In a letter sent to City Attorney Jim Cauley late Monday, acting Assistant Attorney General Loretta King stated “the elimination of party affiliation on the ballot will likely reduce the ability of blacks to elect candidates of choice.”

Under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the DOJ must approve voting changes in selected states and communities such as those in Lenoir County to ensure those changes would not hurt minority voters.

King wrote that data from several prior elections in Kinston indicated that few black residents typically voted, and candidates who would appeal to the black community — which often votes Democratic — win because of straight Democrat ticket votes from the wider electorate.

“Black candidates will likely lose a significant amount of crossover votes due to the high degree of racial polarization present in city elections,” King stated.

In a non-partisan system — which the majority of North Carolina municipalities have — a primary election is not needed.

County elections officials had not planned to hold a primary this year, assuming DOJ approval, but now must scramble to hold one by Sept. 15.

“I’ve got 28 days to get ready,” Dana King, director of elections, said Tuesday, as she laughed.

The Board of Elections must prepare ballots, mail out absentee voting forms and check voting machines in time for One-Stop early voting, which begins Aug. 27. The primary will add an estimated $15,000 to $20,000 price tag to this year’s election.

“We’ve got to get it all ready, but we’re going to have an election!” King said.

Mayoral candidate Earl Harper planned to run unaffiliated. He had not filed during the official period to do so during July, and will now have to obtain signatures from 4 percent of Kinston’s 14,000 registered voters.

Harper said his campaign was prepared to get those signatures, though.

“We’re ready to move forward and get our signatures,” he said. “It’s not about me; it’s about Kinston.”

B.J. Murphy, who will be the lone Republican candidate for Kinston mayor, said the Justice Department’s decision was a “slap in the face” to the city voters who voted 2-1 in favor of non-partisan elections during a referendum last November.

“We’re Kinstonians, we’re Americans, we’re not Democrats and Republicans,” Murphy said. “How many Democrats and Republicans does it take to fix a pothole? The answer is none. The reason why it’s none is it doesn’t matter. City leaders fix potholes and protect the community.”

Stephen LaRoque, who has worked for non-partisan voting since the lackluster City Council elections of 2007 — he and a number of other volunteers obtained about 1,400 signatures on a petition to put the matter on the ballot — was also outraged at the DOJ’s decision.

“I would hope that the city would vigorously defend the voters’ choice for non-partisan elections through whatever appeals process is available, and it should be expedited,” he said.

According to the DOJ’s letter, the city can appeal the decision to either the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., or to the U.S. attorney general.

The city announced in a press release Tuesday that Cauley would speak with the City Council to determine what steps to take.

Councilman Joe Tyson was the lone council member to vote against placing non-partisan voting on the November ballot last August. During the same council meeting, he also voted against a proposed resolution in favor of non-partisan elections because it had no provision for creating districts or wards.

In Tyson’s opinion, wards or districts — which are used in Lenoir County commissioner and school board elections — would ensure minorities would win a seat on the council in the absence of partisan voting.

“I would have gone with districts and wards, but since the resolution did not discuss districts and wards I was totally against it,” he said.

Tyson shared his concerns about how losing the ability to vote straight Democrat would hurt local black voters with the Justice Department after officials contacted him and other city leaders.

“Looking at the nine (city) precincts as they are now and going into a non-partisan election, it was my personal belief that that would prevent a certain segment of the population from being able to be on the City Council,” he said.

David Anderson can be reached at (252) 559-1077 or danderson@freedomenc.com.

Here is how vote totals for the non-partisan referendum broke down last November:

For: 4,977

Against: 2,819

- The measure passed in seven of nine city precincts

- Five of those precincts are majority-black

- The measure did not pass in two of the majority-black precincts, K1 and K8

- In K1, though, it was defeated by only 98 votes and by 59 votes in K8

- About 480 county residents who can vote in the city also approved the measure, 325-155

Source: Lenoir County Board of Elections

Early voting begins at 8:30 a.m Aug. 27. and ends at 1 p.m. Sept. 12. The city primary will be held Sept. 15.