FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 24, 2000

CARY, NC – Cary citizens are invited to share their opinions on a proposal to change the way Town Council members are elected at a public hearing this Thursday night at 7:30 PM at Town Hall.

Citizens in Cary currently use the plurality method of electing their Mayor and six Council members. Under this sort of system, the candidate with the most votes for the seat wins – there is no runoff. A plurality can mean -- and has in recent Cary elections meant – that a candidate running against several candidates for an office could be elected without getting at least half of the votes cast.

But under an idea suggested earlier this month by Cary Mayor Glen Lang, Cary would no longer use a simple plurality to elect the seven-member board; rather, Cary would implore the election and runoff method used by Raleigh and many larger North Carolina municipalities.

Under this method, citizens in Cary would hold regular elections for Council four weeks before the general election. The candidate with half plus one of the votes cast wins. If no candidate takes at least half of the votes cast for his/her seat, the candidate winning the most votes is declared the winner unless the candidate receiving the second highest number of votes requests a runoff. Then, a runoff would be held on the same day as the general election, and the winner of the runoff would win the seat.

Both the current and proposed election methods are nonpartisan.

To change the election method, North Carolina Law ((NCGS 160A-102), requires the Cary Council to adopt an ordinance amending the Town’s charter not earlier than the next regular meeting after the public hearing and not later than 60 days after the public hearing.

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