Northampton approves new voting districts

Northampton County approved their new election districts at their Tuesday night work session.

The new plan would take voters from Districts 1 and 5 and reapportion them into Districts 3 and 4.

A public hearing was held and no citizens spoke in favor or against the proposal.

When the time came to vote, Supervisor Oliver Bennett said he would not be voting in favor of the plan because it changed a district whose Supervisor was not present.

Supervisor Dave Fauber, who will represent District 4 for the remainder of the year before being replaced by Mr. Ernest Smith, was not present Tuesday night following a shoulder surgery. Supervisor John Coker was also not present because he was traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Supervisor Dixon Leatherbury asked if Bennett would prefer to wait until the December meeting to approve the plan when the full board could be present. Should any changes be made, another public hearing would need to be held before it could be legally approved. Virginia requires counties to approve the new plans before December 31.

Following a short discussion, Bennett told Leatherbury he did not have a problem passing the plan Tuesday night.

It was approved on a 2-1 vote, with Bennett voting against.

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