Cary’s Election Delayed Again, Set for May 2022

Cary, NC — Originally scheduled for October 2021, Cary’s Primary Election and Town of Cary Municipal Election were postponed to March 8, 2022, with the passing of Session Law 2021-56 in the State Legislature. Under this law, more than 30 municipalities across North Carolina had their 2021 elections delayed into the new year.

Just last week, on Wednesday, December 8, 2021, Cary’s election date was further delayed, this time by the NC Supreme Court to May 17, 2022.

The court suspended candidate filings for all NC offices for the 2022 primary election, including filing for rescheduled municipal contests. This includes Cary’s municipal election where three Cary Town Council seats will be decided, including one at-large seat and the seats for Districts A and C.

The reason for the suspension, as given by the court, was so that “lawsuits related to gerrymandering can be heard.” As noted in Mayor Harold Weinbrecht’s blog this week, redistricting lawsuits have taken years to work through the courts in the past, but the suspension order also requires the trial to be completed by January 11, 2022.

According to Weinbrecht, there are 40 municipalities impacted by this ruling, “even though the maps do not impact the local elections and municipalities are not named parties.” He continued on to explain that Town of Cary staff have reached out in response to the suspension to see if it will be possible for Cary’s election to go ahead as previously planned as Cary is not impacted directly by the “redrawn lines” that are currently in court.

“Staff is more concerned that this could end up in federal court and the delays could go beyond May 2022,” said Weinbrecht. “Staff is working with outside counsel to see if we would have a viable argument that the local elections should be exempt from any future delays in the event that the ‘redrawn lines’ are rejected as well.”

For further updates on the election process in Cary, here are a few reliable sources to monitor:

Story and photo by Ashley Kairis.

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