FairVote - Pitt County

Pitt County

The Pitt County Board of Commissioners is a board of 9 people with only two African American representatives. The county as a whole has a 30.6% African American population and so there should be at least one more African American commissioner on the board. Six of the commissioners are elected from districts and three are elected to represent combined districts that each encompasses two of the individual districts. Currently this presents a complicated system that does not work to ensure minority representation. In addition, the fact that multi-member districts already exist might make a move to full representation easier to effect.

The cities of Ayden and Winterville, both within Pitt County, elect their city representatives in at large elections that are not staggered. Again this is a system which could transition easily. The cities of Farmville, Fountain and Grifton elect their city representatives in at-large staggered elections. The largest city in the county, Greenville, elects five of its representatives from districts and one at large. Again like Nash County, other than the city of Greenville all of the cities in Pitt County have populations of less than 3,500.



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	Pitt County The Pitt County Board of Commissioners is a board of 9 people with only two African American representatives. The county as a whole has a 30.6% African American population and so there should be at least one more African American commissioner on the board. Six of the commissioners are elected from districts and three are elected to represent combined districts that each encompasses two of the individual districts. Currently this presents a complicated system that does not work to ensure minority representation. In addition, the fact that multi-member districts already exist might make a move to full representation easier to effect. The cities of Ayden and Winterville, both within Pitt County, elect their city representatives in at large elections that are not staggered. Again this is a system which could transition easily. The cities of Farmville, Fountain and Grifton elect their city representatives in at-large staggered elections. The largest city in the county, Greenville, elects five of its representatives from districts and one at large. Again like Nash County, other than the city of Greenville all of the cities in Pitt County have populations of less than 3,500.	Recent Articles October 19th 2009 A better election system Lowell Sun Election expert Doug Amy explains how choice voting can "inject new blood" into the elections of Lowell (MA), and give voters a greater incentive to participate. October 16th 2009 Haven't Detroit voters spoken enough? Livingston Daily In Detroit, there have been three mayors in the past two years and the current one has come under scrutiny. Perhaps a system like instant runoff voting will help bring political stability to motor city. August 21st 2009 Black candidate for Euclid school board to test new voting system Cleveland Plain Dealer Limited voting, a form of proportional voting, will be used in Euclid (OH), in the hopes of allowing better representation of minorities. July 2nd 2009 Reforming Albany New York Times FairVote's Rob Richie responds in a letter to the editor making the case for proportional voting systems to bring substantive reform to New York's legislature.