Our Mission

At Alamance For Good Government (AFGG), we're dedicated to advocating for fair and equitable representation in all types of elections. Our mission is to empower the electorate of Alamance County by educating and informing them about the importance of various voting methods for electing representatives to local governmental bodies.

We believe that district-based voting is essential for fostering better and fairer representation across all levels of government.

Our LeadershipVolunteer

LEADERSHIP | 2024

Tanya Baker
President
Tanya is a social worker, community organizer, and public education advocate in Alamance County. After 10+ years in business, she shifted careers to focus on community impact. Her role as a middle school social worker highlighted the influence of county offices on local schools, inspiring her involvement with Alamance for Good Government. Tanya holds an MBA from Mississippi State University and an MSW from UNC-Charlotte.
Bob Byrd
Treasurer
Bob Byrd, a founding board member and treasurer of AFGG, has been committed to Alamance County since 1978. With a 35-year career as a senior executive at Alamance Regional Medical Center and a term as County Commissioner (2014-18), Bob has contributed to public education, health, poverty alleviation, and racial equity initiatives throughout the region. He holds a BS in Music Education from Penn State and a Master of Health Administration from Duke University.
Alejandro Garcia
financial secretary
Alejandro García, from Sinaloa, Mexico, has called Alamance County home for over 20 years. A dedicated father and community advocate, he recently founded Valores ValorX, a grassroots group addressing local needs. As Latinx Coordinator at CityGate Dream Center, Alejandro is committed to cultural awareness, self-improvement, and community empowerment.
Portrait of a woman
MARY LONGHILL
SECRETARY
Alejandro García, from Sinaloa, Mexico, has called Alamance County home for over 20 years. A dedicated father and community advocate, he recently founded Valores ValorX, a grassroots group addressing local needs. As Latinx Coordinator at CityGate Dream Center, Alejandro is committed to cultural awareness, self-improvement, and community empowerment.

Frequently asked questions

What is at-large voting?
Under at-large voting, all voters cast their ballots for all candidates inthe jurisdiction. In Alamance County, elections for County Commissioners, for example, all voters cast their ballots for five positions, with the top five candidates who receive the most votes countywide winning seats on the Board of Commissioners.
How many counties in NC still have at-large voting?
In 2021, 39 of North Carolina’s 100 counties had no districts. Every commissioner in these counties is elected at-large. Only 14 counties use single-member districts only, but another 15 counties use single-member districts with one or more seats elected at-large (e.g. Wake, Guilford, and Caswell Counties). The large majority of the remaining use “at-large district” voting, where candidates must live in their designated district, but voters county-wide can vote for each district’s candidates (e.g. Chatham County).
How can jurisdictions switch from at-large to district-based voting?
The Board of Commissioners can call for a referendum on the question of moving from at-large to district voting for county commissions, and voters can approve a change to the method of election through the referendum. Another way would be for the North Carolina General Assembly to pass a local bill to change to district-based elections. This happened recently in Wake County. A change in school board elections requires that the NCGA pass a local bill. Without action by local governing boards, politicians who choose to maintain at-large voting can face time-consuming and costly litigation under the Voting Rights Act, which is the third way jurisdictions can switch.
Why is at-large voting discriminatory? 
At-large methods of election are often discriminatory because they, in combination with racially polarized voting, prevent voters of color fromelecting their candidates of choice where they are not the majority in the jurisdiction. Under this system, the votes of voters of color often are drowned out or submerged by the votes of a majority of white voters who often do not support the candidates preferred by Black voters.
Can single-member districts still be unfair?
Single-member districts can be gerrymandered the same way that congressional or legislative districts are: by drawing districts that “pack” as many of the other party’s voters as possible into a few districts, then spreading out the rest. The other party wins a few seats by large margins, but loses the rest.
What’s the best system for local representation?
Good government groups have supported single-member districts for local bodies such as county commissions for many years. In this system, each county is divided into several equal-population districts, each with one commissioner who is elected by the voters in that district. A variation on this system adds 1-2 commissioners elected at-large county-wide, which can provide better representation of broadly shared interests. Single-member districts allow for better representation of the different groups in the county and ensure that major groups within the electorate have a strong voice onthe council. This is especially important where groups with varying interests are geographically concentrated in particular parts of the county (whether those groups are defined by income levels, race, ethnicity, urban vs. rural, or other factors).
 Are at-large systems becoming less used over time? 
Since the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, numerous at-large systems have been struck down under the Voting Rights Act. Although at-large voting is becoming rarer, in part due to the advocacy of civil rights organizations, such discriminatory election systems remain in some places such as Alamance County. The Voting Rights Act forbids the use of any electoral scheme, such as the at-large method of election, that submerges the votes of people of color in elections that a white majority of voters control.
How are single-member districts created?
To remedy dilutive at-large electoral systems, single-member districts are created by a demographic mapping expert and include at least one district in which voters of color are the majority of the voting-age population in that district. These districts must satisfy all relevant laws and traditional redistricting principles. These districts are not intended to guarantee the election of politicians of a particular color, but rather to empower voters to elect their candidates of choice.
Isn’t creating a district with a majority of its voters being people of color gerrymandering?
Voters in Alamance County who are Black deserve an opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. Being the largest minority group, 22 percent (is this VAP?) of Alamance County is Black. This does not necessarily mean that a district that concentrates Black voters would need to be drawn. However, if districts are drawn in a way that keeps communities together, it should give an opportunity for not just voters who are Black, but voters of all different parts of the county to be able to elect candidates
Isn’t district-based voting appropriate only for large counties like, say, Wake and Guilford Counties, with large geographical footprints and large populations?
Alamance County may not be as large as Wake or Guilford Counties, but relatively speaking, it is one of the largest counties in the state. Alamance is the 15th largest county in the state (out of 100). It is also one of the fastest growing counties in the state. Its population increased by 14% from 2010-2020. Several counties much smaller than Alamance like Anson, Chowan, Columbus, Edgecombe, Wilson, Vance, and Sampson all use single member districts to elect their county commissioners.