Edgecomb board orders three draft maps after Rocky Mount merger, seeks broad public input

The Edgecomb Public Schools Board of Education voted on Nov. 25 to ask its demographer and board attorney to prepare three draft electoral-district maps and to open channels for community input after a series of public comments and a legal presentation on redistricting following the July 1 merger that added part of Rocky Mount to the district.

Board attorney Deborah Stagner summarized the board’s legal constraints, telling members they must use 2020 census counts and comply with one-person–one-vote, contiguity, and federal protections such as the Voting Rights Act. ‘‘Minority voting strength should not be diluted or overconcentrated,’’ Stagner said, and she urged the board to adopt neutral, legally required principles while deciding discretionary priorities.

Blake, the district demographer, told the board the newly added Rocky Mount area brings almost 10,000 people into the jurisdiction — more than a 25% increase over the district’s prior population of about 39,000 — meaning each of the seven existing districts will need roughly 1,400 additional residents on average. Blake said the new ideal district size is about 7,000 people and that “the magnitude of change” will require significant boundary shifts across all districts.

Several public commenters urged robust outreach and procedural safeguards. Melvin Muhammad asked that the board delay final decisions until the community has had multiple meetings across the county and proposed creating a citizens advisory body and a public map-submission process. Chris Shenton, voting-rights counsel with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, urged the board to avoid diluting minority votes and recommended two rounds of public comment — before draft maps are produced and after they are posted — so residents can give concrete feedback.

After discussion about priorities and trade-offs — preserving incumbents and existing district cores, compactness, and respecting communities of interest — the board approved a motion directing Blake and Stagner to present three maps at the February regular meeting and to have the superintendent’s office post them online and provide an email or other channel for submissions and comments. The three criteria specified were: 1) preserve the core of existing districts and consider incumbency; 2) prioritize compact districts and disregard incumbency; and 3) prioritize keeping communities of interest intact. The motion was moved, seconded and carried by voice vote; no roll-call tally was given.

Stagner reminded the board it may not change the number of seats without action by the General Assembly; members discussed exploring, in parallel, whether to ask the legislative delegation to consider adding seats but agreed not to halt map-drawing while that inquiry proceeds.

Next steps the board approved include accepting community input (including the possibility of submitted maps), having the demographer prepare the three drafts for presentation at the board’s February meeting (Stagner said she is available Feb. 10 but later clarified Feb. 10 may conflict and suggested the regular second-Monday meeting in February), posting large-format maps and interactive versions online for public review, holding additional public hearings or work sessions in March or April, and aiming to adopt a plan by late 2025 so it can be submitted to the Board of Elections before candidate-filing deadlines.

The meeting ended after the board approved the motion and then voted to adjourn.