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GREENSBORO — County leaders say this year’s county commissioners elections could be delayed for months unless problems with a new district map are ironed out quickly.

Last year, the General Assembly rushed through a redistricting plan that redefined Guilford County voting lines and reduced the county board from 11 members to nine.

The new district map was heavily criticized. Beyond claims about racial bias in the map, it created logistical problems:

• Some districts are left without any direct representation by commissioners.

• Other newly created districts are represented by more than one commissioner.

• No provision is made for electing at-large representatives until 2014, which would mean no at-large representation on the board for two years.

When the map was passed in July, Guilford County leaders expected the state to correct any problems before the next election. But with just a few weeks until candidates file to run, the Board of Elections says no progress has been made.

“This is a map that was drawn in haste and anybody can tell that by looking at it,” said Melvin “Skip” Alston, chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners. “We’re going to have to figure something out because we can’t elect people like this.”

Alston said a Board of Elections meeting has been called for 2 p.m. today at the Old County Courthouse to discuss the issue. But he said the fault — and the responsibility for fixing the problem — rests with the state.

“This was a map and a plan for elections that was pushed through by the Republicans for political reasons,” said Alston, a Democrat. “It wasn’t well considered, and it doesn’t have the interests of the people in mind. That’s obvious.”

Republicans at the county and state level argue the redistricting was necessary to undo a previous redistricting that expanded the board and gave Democrats an electoral advantage in the county for two decades.

Alston said the General Assembly could have cleaned up the map and solved its logistical problems at any time since July, when it was initially passed. Legislators are too embroiled in controversy over redistricted maps for state Senate seats, he said, and haven’t made the time.

A number of commissioners said they wish the legislature had allowed the county to draw its own maps — something that was first promised to them, then rescinded over concerns the process would be too partisan.

Because the redistricting law passed by the legislature also stripped the commissioners’ statutory authority to hold a referendum on the map, the county no longer has the power to put forward a new plan or put new districts to a direct vote.

Commissioner Paul Gibson said he fears untangling the mess may push back the election by a few months. Gibson said he mentioned the various problems with the map to Sen. Phil Berger, president pro tem of the state Senate, when he saw him before Christmas.

“He said they were going to look into fixing some of them, but it hasn’t happened yet,” Gibson said.

Gibson, an at-large commissioner, represents all of Guilford County rather than a specific district. He said the way the redistricting impacts at-large representation on the board worries him.

The law reduces the number of commissioners from 11 to nine — eight elected from districts throughout the county and one elected at large. There are currently two at-large commissioners — Gibson and Commissioner John Parks.

Gibson and Parks — both Democrats — have terms that expire this year. If the law is followed as written, neither they nor any other candidate will be allowed to run at large until 2014.

“At-large representation is important because it really means you have to see things beyond districts, beyond where you live and your constituents,” Gibson said. “It really brings a whole other viewpoint to discussions.”

Beyond eliminating one of the two at-large seats, the law also stipulates that current commissioners’ terms cannot be interrupted. That’s a problem because some commissioners will still be serving out their terms when other commissioners are elected in newly created districts overlapping theirs.

“Something is going to have to be done, but I don’t know what it is,” Gibson said. “I think this whole thing is a good argument for having a nonpartisan committee set up to deal with redistricting in the first place.”

Contact Joe Killian at 373-7023 or joe.killian@news-record.com