ELIZABETH CITY — A Greene County native fought the Pasquotank County Board of Elections ruling on residency and won.
The case has received national attention and brought a whirlwind of discussion on students’ right to vote and hold office.
Montravias King left his hometown of Snow Hill to pursue studies of political science and pre-law at Elizabeth City State University in the fall semester after graduating from Greene Central High School in 2009.
Living in the dormitory at the historically-black university, he filed with the Board of Elections on July 19 — the last day of filing — with hopes of obtaining one of the two seats open in the city council.
But shortly after, Richard “Pete” Gilbert, who is white and chairman of the Republican Party of Pasquotank County, challenged his candidacy.
“I was the last candidate in the 4th Ward for city council,” the black 22-year-old student said. There were six other candidates, including one incumbent, running in the predominantly black ward.
The challenge was based on residency, with Gilbert claiming students are not permanently domiciled on the campus, according to a letter King received.
Gilbert did not return phone calls from The Free Press.
King, the son of Mary and Donnell Best of Snow Hill, maintains that 1704 Weeksville Road — the university’s address — is his place of residency. The burden of proof lay in King’s hands, according to state law.
The Pasquotank elections board used a statement from Arvin Muller, the ECSU housing director, that said dormitories are temporary residences, King said.
The Pasquotank board ruled in favor of Gilbert.
But King, who had been voting in the county since 2009, was not discouraged.
Obtaining an attorney — Clare Barnett — from the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, he appealed the ruling, taking it to the State Board of Elections.
The appeal hearing was held on Tuesday in the crowded elections board offices in Raleigh.
“The state board,” King said, “unanimously overturned the ruling by the Pasquotank Board of Elections (which stated) that I did not provide proof that my residence is 1704 Weeksville Road.”
State Board of Elections Executive Director Kim Strach said, “(King) met the burden of proof for residency.”
The laws on residency that apply to voters also apply to candidacy.
“(The Pasquotank board) didn’t have any legal precedent to say that a dormitory can’t be a permanent address,” Barnett stated on the Southern Coalition’s website. “The N.C. Supreme Court ruled decades ago that a college dormitory is a valid address for voting. Since the statutory requirements for running for office and voting are the same, a college dormitory is also a valid address for running for office.”
King maintains his residence year-round at the university, volunteers in the community and intends to remain in Elizabeth City and commute to school when he begins law school after graduating in the spring.
“I would love to work for a nonprofit,” he said, “or practice civil rights law.”
King was greeted by a number of supporters from Green and Pasquotank counties, as well as across the state, following the state’s decision to overturn the former ruling.
“This is very, very important because this is not about me,” King said about the decision. “This is about college students across the state, across the country. College students have the right to vote in the town in which they call home.”
King’s interest in politics began when he was in middle school and was introduced to then-mayor of Snow Hill Don Davis, now state senator for Lenoir, Greene, Pitt and Wayne counties.
“Since then,” he said, “Mr. Davis has been a mentor and a friend to me.”
King was an avid supporter during Davis’ campaign for senator and active as student government president at Greene Central.
He said he chose to attend ECSU over ECU because of it being an HBCU and a small campus with close-knit relationships between professors and students. He was also encouraged by his godmother, Angela Daughety of Kinston.
King’s career interest was, at first, in journalism. He helped start a newsletter in middle school called The Ram Page. The first issue compared the money spent on Greene County’s three prisons with that spent on education in the county.
“Ever since I was in middle school, ever since I can remember,” he said, “I’ve always wanted to make a difference.”
On Thursday, King kicked off his campaign, which he said is about more than simply voter suppression and his constitutional rights.
“I want to be a city council member,” he said, “because I believe that the city of Elizabeth City can benefit tremendously from not only my youth, but my experience, my morals and my values. I’m running because I’m willing to fight for our students, our university and our city.”
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.