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WEB EXCLUSIVE Raleigh municipal elections will now take place in 2022, giving city council members and the mayor one additional year in office.
Raleigh’s municipal election will now take place Nov. 8, 2022—rather than fall 2021—as a result of the passing of State Bill 722, which will become a law without Gov. Roy Cooper’s signature. Cooper did not sign off on the bill, noting a need for more open discussion and public input on the topic before becoming a law.
Raleigh is among more than 30 other municipalities across the state of North Carolina to be affected by the bill. Under the new law, mayors and council members, including Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin, will continue in their roles until successors are elected in 2022—giving them a whole extra year in office.
At the request of Raleigh City Council, an amendment was also added to the bill that permanently moves Raleigh’s municipal election to even years (think: 2022, 2024), similar to presidential elections, and changes the election method to plurality, rather than runoff.
The election postponement was caused by delays in getting the U.S. Census Bureau data (largely caused by the pandemic). Because cities and towns with district-specific races, such as Raleigh, couldn’t redraw their districts without census data, elections were postponed.
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There are NO valid reasons for moving to November 2022 rather than March 2022. Or for making this a plurality election with no runoffs. This is a power grab cooked up in secret and you should take the time to report all the facts instead of parroting the Mayor and Council’s BS.
Why no mention that this council also changed the way we vote? We will no longer have any runoff elections. The top vote getter, no matter what percentage of votes, will win outright. This is a HUGE change to how we currently vote.