For the second time in three years, Raleigh’s city council is looking at changing the way its members are elected. 

On Tuesday, the council voted unanimously on a resolution to begin the process of changing the city’s charter to allow for four-year staggered terms with nonpartisan primaries beginning in 2026. In 2021, a 10-member study group had suggested that the city switch to electing municipal leaders via this method, which is already used in other North Carolina cities including Durham, Asheville, and Greensboro. The council could also consider adding three seats. 

Currently, all eight council members, including the mayor, two at-large representatives, and one representative from five districts, are simultaneously elected in even-numbered years to two-year terms. 

During the Tuesday meeting, District B council member Megan Patton asked city staff to add another resolution expanding the council from eight seats to 11. The council debated whether to add three district seats or a mix of district and at-large seats. Most peer cities, including Durham, have a close ratio of district to at-large seats. 

“After talking to mayors in other cities, I’m looking for that balance [of district and at-large seats],” Raleigh mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said. “That balance is important and having access to run on a citywide basis is important and we may be cutting people out of the process.”

Patton and at-large council member Jonathan Melton stated that the council had studied the issue enough and is ready to move forward with adding the three district seats.

“I understand there is not unanimity on this and there might not be,” Patton said before motioning to pass the resolution to add more district seats. 

Ultimately, Baldwin voted against the resolution considering the changes to the number of seats on the council, stating that she wants to see two district seats and an at-large seat added rather than three more district seats. The resolution passed 6-1 with council member Corey Branch absent from the meeting. 

While residents seem to favor adding district seats over at-large seats, some aren’t on board with the proposed changes to the Raleigh city council’s election structure.

An online city-sponsored survey found that 40 percent of 1,013 Raleigh respondents were supportive or very supportive of council members serving four-year terms instead of two-year terms, while 50 percent were not supportive or not supportive at all. Ten percent of survey respondents were unsure. 

In a controversial move three years ago, Raleigh’s city council voted, behind closed doors, to ask the NC General Assembly to permanently move its elections from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years. The COVID-19 pandemic had delayed the release of U.S. census data on redistricting, making it challenging to hold the city council election in 2021. But the closed session vote, which was eventually folded into a bill that became state law, earned criticism from Raleigh residents and rebukes from state lawmakers and Governor Roy Cooper for its secrecy, for giving the then-council members an extra year in office, and for changing city elections from nonpartisan elections with runoffs to nonpartisan plurality elections.

While the change to a plurality election meant Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin won reelection to a second term with 47 percent of the vote over two challengers—including one who won 41 percent of the vote—who then couldn’t call for a runoff, the change to even-year elections did improve turnout for the city election that year according to data from the North Carolina Board of Elections. In 2019, around 54,500 voters cast ballots in the Raleigh mayor’s race; in 2022, around 154,000 did.

The city council will hold a public hearing on the resolutions for the election changes on Tuesday, April 2 at 7 p.m. The council could then decide whether to vote to make the changes to the city’s charter or put the issue to voters in a referendum this fall. 

On Election Day on November 5, all eight city council seats, including the mayor’s, are up for election.  This year marks the first time in the city’s history that Raleigh voters will elect their mayor and council members on a ballot that includes a presidential contest. 

Follow Editor-in-Chief Jane Porter on Twitter or send an email to jporter@indyweek.com.