Charlotte City Council voted to wait until spring 2022 to hold municipal elections.
A bill that became law without Gov. Roy Cooper's signature last week allows many North Carolina cities to postpone 2021 elections to 2022 because of delays in U.S. Census Bureau population data needed to redraw districts.
Charlotte would have been able to move elections for its seven district-specific City Council members to 2022 but hold elections for mayor and four at-large members on time in November. But on Monday, council members opted to hold all elections at once.
The Charlotte Observer reports that Ed Driggs and Tariq Bokhari, the council’s two Republican members, voted to split up the elections. Four council members did not attend yesterday’s meeting.
Having two elections would have cost the city about $350,000.
City Council primaries would be in March.