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Senate Bill Delays Elections In 35 N.C. Cities

WFDD FILE PHOTO

The North Carolina Senate has passed a bill that would push back some elections until 2022, a move that would impact 35 municipalities.

SB722 is a revised bill focusing on municipalities that rely on districts and wards that are redrawn every decade, based on population changes.

Delays in the release of 2020 Census data have left the General Assembly seeking new options.

The Winston-Salem Journal reports the bill would move primaries in some cities and towns to March 8, with the general election taking place on April 26.

Greensboro and Lexington are among the municipalities that would be impacted. Winston-Salem has a ward system but will not be affected because the next election for City Council and the mayor's office is in 2024.

There had been talk of proposing legislation that would have delayed all 2021 municipal elections. But that changed after some officials recommended keeping local elections in odd years so as not to be overshadowed by presidential, congressional, and statewide campaigns.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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