All Charlotte City Council elections, including those for the mayoral race are being delayed until 2022, as many had hoped, despite recent surprises from the General Assembly.Monday's approval by the City Council of a municipal election plan allows current office holders to continue their two-year term.It was not possible to hold all three elections simultaneously. As the redistricting process continues, the City Council considered splitting the elections with the mayor and at-large representatives.However, Council members voted to keep elections together.Malcolm Graham, Rene Johnson and Matt Newton were all Council members who voted against bifurcation. Tariq Bokhari and Ed Driggs, two members of the Republican Council, voted for bifurcation. Monday's meeting was missed by Council members Larken Edwardston, Julie Eiselt and Dimple Ajmera.Phipps stated that there is too much happening too quickly. He also spoke of a compressed election schedule for 2021. Phipps stated that he spoke with constituents who were confused about split elections. Some believed the Council was moving to staggered elections.Delay in census data, which is required to redraw the City Council districts maps, prompted the decision to how to handle municipal election. This information, originally expected to be available three months ago, won't be available until September.The new state legislation went into effect Monday without the governor. Roy Cooper signed the new state legislation, which took effect Monday without Gov.The law did however include a crucial caveat. At-large and mayoral elections could still be held in this year's election, as they aren't contingent on redistricting. It also allowed candidates who lost their mayoral or at-large bids to separately run for a district seat.Continue the storyThe City Council primaries will be held on March 8 according to the delayed schedule. If there is a federal secondary primary, the general election will be held on April 26.The party leaders weigh inSplit elections were a possibility, and Council members began to fight. Mayor Vi Lyles called for a recess.Tensions rose after Charlotte residents, local party leaders, and activists spoke at a public forum, raising concerns about transparency and voter disenfranchisement. They also raised concerns about low voter turnout, voter disenfranchisement and unneeded costs to taxpayers.Ryan Bergman, Charlotte's budget director, said recently that split elections could result in an additional $340,000 for the city. This is due to the obligation of the city to pay a portion of the annual budget of the county Board of Elections. Officials from the Election Commission warned that the bill could be higher depending on how many primaries and polling places are needed.Many speakers also mentioned recent Council scandals, such as significant pay increases for the mayor and Council members, and the 2040 Comprehensive Plan which split council members for several months.Bokhari voted against Charlotte's fiscal year 2022 budget because of the pay rises. He rebuked his coworkers for not allowing some elections in the fall.Bokhari stated that there are a lot people at this dais who care about fiscal accountability. He then egged on Graham, who in turn urged the Council not to be intellectually dishonest towards voters.Sarah Reidy Jones, chair of Mecklenburg County Republican Party, advocated split elections. She claimed that the Council's pay increases were tone-deaf in the face of the subsiding coronavirus pandemic. Lyles' salary is increasing by 41.5%, while Council members get a half-time salary increase of 50%.Reidy-Jones stated that both employees and employers are in trouble. Voters and taxpayers want the opportunity to express their opinions at the ballot box now. Instead, they are told that the government has raised themselves and is trying to protect themselves from any fallout at this fall's polls.Jane Whitley, chairperson of the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party said that separating elections was political opportunism. This was prompted by Trump's handling of 2020 census data, which caused the delay.Whitley spoke of candidates who might have been able to run again in 2022 after having lost in the fall.Chair of the Black Political Caucus Stephanie Sneed also called on the Council to postpone all elections until 2022. Under the split elections plan, a tight early voting window for 2021 could have been detrimental to Black voters as well as seniors and students.This is particularly true in 2021, which will have a compressed election cycle that will limit voter education.
