NC Municipal Election Results

Yesterday, the State of North Carolina held its second round
of municipal elections.  The first was
held on Tuesday, September 10^th and was the primary for partisan
municipal elections.  The elections held
yesterday on October 8^th
were (1) for municipalities that conduct non-partisan elections with a possible
runoff, (2) primaries for non-partisan municipal elections, and (3) possible
second primaries for partisan elections. 
One would think these elections would be very important, especially
since these elected officials are the ones making decisions about our local
community and local tax rates.  The voter
turnout would hint they’re not regarded as important, though; in the 23
counties holding elections yesterday, only 11.29% of registered voters turned
out to vote.  See the map
below of counties holding elections yesterday and their participation rates
– the darker the color the lower percentage who turned out to vote.

While most elections were for Mayor or Town/City Council or
Alderman, there were two large fiscal items on the ballot in one county.  Wake County and the City of Raleigh each had
a bond referendum yesterday, putting taxpayers on the hook for higher property
tax rates if passed. 

The Wake County Public School System offered a general obligation
bond worth $810 million along with $129.955 million in cash funding.  Voters approved it yesterday with 57.71
percent of the vote.  This bond will cost
taxpayers 5 cents per $100 of valuation on their property tax.  The other was a transportation general
obligation bond worth $75 million for the City of Raleigh and passing with
69.87 percent of the vote.  This bond
will cause city of Raleigh residents’ property tax to increase by 1.12 cents per
$100 of valuation.  In total, not only
did Wake County see many municipal elections, including the capital city’s
mayoral election, but it also saw an increase for property owners as high as
6.12 cents on their property tax.  In the wake
of a federal government shutdown over debt and excessive spending, I guess the
message didn’t hit home with voters in Wake County as they increased their debt
to spend more.

In total yesterday, there were 85 elections taking place
over 23 counties.  The races on the
ballots across the state yesterday were:

• 16 Mayoral Races
• 18 Towns or
  cities’ council or town alderman races
• 4 Counties’
  Commissioner Races
• 2 Bond
  Referendums
• 1 School Board
  Race

Overall, the election turnout statistics
are typical for municipal elections, but should not be.  These elections have the ability to increase
taxes, as seen in Wake County.  As
concerned citizens and stewards of liberty, we owe it to ourselves to vote
during these local elections to help make our counties, towns, and cities more
accountable.  There are more than 950,000
people living in Wake County, and yet only 98,528 people voted.  That small percentage voted on a tax increase
for every property owner in the county.  Maybe if more people had taken the time to
vote, the county would have reworked its budget and saved the taxpayers
millions of dollars in interest payments and bond payments.

Below are some of the statewide
election facts from yesterday:

• 23 Counties held
  elections
• 170,527 ballots
  were cast
• Statewide there
  was 11.29% voter turnout
• Carteret County
  had the largest voter turnout by percentage of registered voters, 37.04%
• Mecklenburg
  County had the lowest voter turnout by percentage of registered voters,
  1.67%
• Wake County had
  the most voters with 98,528 participating
• Richmond had the
  fewest voters with 75 participating

There is one more municipal election scheduled for North
Carolina voters, to be held on Tuesday, November 5^th for all the
remaining municipal elections or any possible runoffs from the election held in
October.