Montravias King, a senior political science major and native of Snow Hill, N.C., is formally launching his city council campaign today.
The move by the local elections board blocking Montravias King’s electoral bid drew national media attention to Elizabeth City and provoked outcry for what many have perceived as part of statewide attack by Republican local and state officials on minority and student voting rights. King, a senior political science major and native of Snow Hill, N.C., has resumed his candidacy and today is formally launching his city council campaign.
“I’m extremely excited … We knew all along that we were on the right side of the law and the [state] constitution,” King told Diverse. “I’m grateful that I can fully campaign.”
“We’re of course very happy the state board corrected the mistakes of the local board,” said Anita Earls, the executive director of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. “We felt all along the law was on our side and we were prepared to fight it as long and hard as we needed to.”
The Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) provided King legal representation in his appeal that went before the state elections board. Active in the local NAACP and other civic activities involving historically Black Elizabeth City State University (ECSU), King had used his on-campus address when he filed to run for office on July 19, according to news reports.
Richard Gilbert, chairman of the Pasquotank County Republican party, had originally challenged King’s bid and argued that King’s dorm address disqualified him from seeking a city council seat because it’s a temporary residence. Since 2009, King had used his campus housing address for voting purposes and had voted in city, county, state and national elections since then, the [Raleigh] News and Observer reported.
“This case was significant on a statewide level because the local order of the Pasquotank County said that a dormitory could not be considered a permanent residence for the purposes of voting…The North Carolina constitution says that if you are a qualified voter in any election, you’re also qualified to run in that election,” said Clare Bennett, the SCSJ attorney who represented King before the state elections board.
