Breaking News: Officials call election filing period for Lexington 'inaccurate'
The question of municipal filing for the majority of Lexington City Council and Mayor has been fraught with a flurry of confusion. Lexington Mayor, Newell Clark said that a host of citizens have been in contact with questions regarding the filing period. Clark reached out to State Senator Steve Jarvis to help bring clarification to why the city’s ward-based system’s filing period is different from others in the past. Questions are expected to be answered within hours.
This morning, Davidson Local was made aware, by a citizen, that the filing period for Lexington’s mayoral and city council races will close on Friday, August 13 at 12:00 p.m. Previously, this information hadn’t been conveyed to Davison Local. It was confirmed this morning by Ruth Honeycutt, director of the board of elections. There was no explanation as to why the media wasn’t provided with this information when previous inquiries were made.
Those who have filed their candidacy as of 3:00 p.m. on August 12 include:
Mayor: Jason Hayes
Donald Ray Holt, Sr.
City Council Ward 1: Dr. Keith Curry
Esther Adams Neely
City Council Ward 3: Cedarian Lee
Hayes, filed as a candidate for mayor on August 11 after receiving a screenshot circulated amongst potential candidates. The screenshot from the Board of Elections website showed the Lexington Municipal Election filing period as June 26 through August 13. It was later changed to July 26 after a conversation with Davidson Local staff.
Hayes said he was still contemplating a bid for the city’s top seat and felt compelled to file before the August 13 deadline that recently appeared on the board’s website.
He said it was his understanding that census data needed to be certified before filings could begin. “The mayor’s race isn’t impacted by the census, but I understand that others are.” Hayes went on to say, “I went to the board of elections a couple of times just to find out when the filing dates were... I had assumed that they were changed based on what I heard from the paper and city officials. And then another candidate, who is planning on running, shared with me that the website of the board of elections had not changed from the original filing deadline dates.” Hayes quoted stories that had appeared in local media including Davidson Local. “I decided to go to the board of elections and asked are you all accepting filings? They said “Yes” and that closing date is Friday. I said I would like to file then, thinking I would do it to be safe.”
Hayes noted that he is in favor of the delayed filing period so that everyone could be represented and counted. Within 24 hours of the current filing period closing several seats remain without a candidate. “I expect more people to run for office, including Mayor.” Hayes called the messaging on the municipal filling process “inconsistent.”
According to North Carolina Senate Bill 722, municipalities that have elections delayed until 2022 “must notify the appropriate county board of elections with jurisdiction over that municipality’s election contests whether the municipality will be able to provide electoral districts revised in accordance with State and federal law on or before November 17, 2021.” If the municipality is unable to provide this information by that day, they must provide it on or before December 17, 2021.
Senator Jarvis said the law is clear and has been ratified. As stated in NC Senate Bill 722: the appropriate county board or boards of elections shall then set the filing period that will be used for that municipality's elections delayed to 2022 in accordance with this act as follows:
Open at 12:00 noon on December 6, 2021, and close at 12:00 noon on December 17, 2021, for municipalities providing the electoral districts revised in accordance with State and federal law to appropriate county board or boards of elections on or before November 17, 2021.
Open at 12:00 noon on January 3, 2022, and close at 12:00 noon on January 7, 2022, for municipalities providing the electoral districts revised in accordance with State and federal law to appropriate county board or boards of elections on or before December 17, 2021.
Jarvis said the county board of elections has been contacted about the inaccuracy and he expected a prompt response from county government.
The Lexington City Council meeting on Monday, June 28, it was stated elections would be held on March 8th, 2022 with potential redistricting based on the results of the 2020 census. Councilor Frank Callicutt called the postings confusing. “I don’t know how you can run in a ward until we know where the wards are,” he remarked.
This is a developing story. Stay tuned to Davidson Local for more information.
