WICOMICO CO., MD - The Wicomico County Council is poised to consider a lawsuit settlement with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to revise the County’s election system for County Council and Board of Education.
The Wicomico County Branch of the NAACP, along with the Caucus of African American Leaders and the Watchmen with One Voice Ministerial Alliance, filed a lawsuit against Wicomico in December 2023. The plaintiffs argued Wicomico’s current five single-member districts/ two at-large election system, or the “5/2 system”, is racially discriminatory. In their lawsuit, the NAACP noted that neither body has seen a black person elected to an at-large position since the 5/2 system was implemented.
The civil rights groups further argued the election systems for Council and School Board violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and denied black neighbors’ right to fair representation. Plaintiffs cited the disparity in representation on the County Council and School Board despite 42% of Wicomico’s population being Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and over 62% of the public school population being BIPOC.
According to court documents, Wicomico County has drafted an agreement with the NAACP in Maryland District Court to amend their election system and settle the lawsuit. That agreement would see the 5/2 election structure eliminated in favor of a new seven district system without at-large seats.
“That is, all Council candidates in future elections must reside in the district for which they seek election, and only voters residing in that district shall be eligible to vote for the Council candidates seeking election therein,” the U.S. District Court Judge’s final consent reads.
The decree notes that the role of County Executive would remain an at-large vote.
Currently, Council President John Cannon and Councilman James Winn are the two at-large council members. On the School Board, Bonnie H. Ennis and Kristin Hazel were elected to the at-large seats in 2022.
“This is a complicated federal voting rights lawsuit involving several state and local governmental agencies,” a spokesperson for the Wicomico County Public Schools said Thursday. “There have been a number of court filings as well as court-directed mediation sessions in an effort to resolve the dispute. While no settlement has been finalized, the specifics of what the parties recently agreed to in principle can be found in the court documents posted to the Wicomico County Council briefing book for this coming Tuesday’s Council meeting. For its part, while the Wicomico County Board of Education does not have authority over the laws governing election districts, in the way the County and the State do, the Board has agreed it would be willing to support legislation aimed at implementing the terms of the proposed agreement and court order if they are adopted and the case is dismissed.”
The Wicomico County Council is now slated to vote Tuesday on a resolution to approve the District Court’s decision and agreement with the NAACP to change the election system. The agreement also includes Wicomico paying all of the plaintiff’s legal fees, listed as a total of $135,000.
Also in the agreement is Wicomico’s pledge to enact a human rights advisory committee, hold anti-bias training, and hold twice yearly council work sessions with African-American advocacy groups. The agreement would additionally require the County Council and Board of Education to lobby Maryland lawmakers to pass a law requiring a permanent student member position on the Wicomico County School Board.
Wicomico County Council President John Cannon tells WBOC the Council will refrain from public comments on the lawsuit until their final determination on February 4. That meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday.