FairVote - Rockingham County

Rockingham County

Rockingham's local government is not representative of its ethnic make up. Their County Board of Commissioners is made up of five representatives who at this time are all white. The African American community makes up 18.6% of the county population. The commissioners are elected at large in staggered partisan elections to serve four-year terms. There should be at least one African American representative on this governing board. It is unclear what the ethnic make up of the County School Board is, but it consists of eight members who are elected from each of eight districts for four-year terms.

There are individual cities within Rockingham County that also merit attention. The city of Eden has an eight-member City Council. Currently all eight members are white, which fails to represent the cities 19.8% African American Population. The city council members are elected in staggered elections to four-year terms. Each member represents a particular ward, but the city at large votes for the representatives from each ward.

Rockingham is a largely rural county, with an average income below that of North Carolina as a whole. As a result, it may lack the infrastructure necessary to host workshops.



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	Rockingham County Rockingham's local government is not representative of its ethnic make up. Their County Board of Commissioners is made up of five representatives who at this time are all white. The African American community makes up 18.6% of the county population. The commissioners are elected at large in staggered partisan elections to serve four-year terms. There should be at least one African American representative on this governing board. It is unclear what the ethnic make up of the County School Board is, but it consists of eight members who are elected from each of eight districts for four-year terms. There are individual cities within Rockingham County that also merit attention. The city of Eden has an eight-member City Council. Currently all eight members are white, which fails to represent the cities 19.8% African American Population. The city council members are elected in staggered elections to four-year terms. Each member represents a particular ward, but the city at large votes for the representatives from each ward. Rockingham is a largely rural county, with an average income below that of North Carolina as a whole. As a result, it may lack the infrastructure necessary to host workshops.	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.