After the reversal of a decision last month by the North Carolina Board of Elections which blocked students from to running for public office, Montravias King became the first Elizabeth City State University student and one of the youngest candidates in Elizabeth City, N.C., history to win a city council seat Tuesday night.
Unofficial Pasquotank County election results reveal that King, who lived in Snow Hill, N.C., before college, won the Ward 4 seat with 585 votes in a field of seven candidates. The 22-year-old political science senior drew national attention in the wake of the recent legislation that place significant restrictions on voting rights in North Carolina. In particular, King, who lives in a dorm on campus, had been deemed ineligible for failure to meet residency requirements.
However, the State Board of Elections overruled the County Board’s decision, noting that voters and candidates are subject to the same residency rules and that students routinely list their dorm as their official residence.
ECSU School of Arts & Humanities Dean Dr. Murel Jones stated that King’s win is a “game changer” in terms Pasquotank County politics and visibility for Elizabeth City State and wishes him “godspeed.”
