In authorizing the annexation, the General Assembly determined that the annexation was suitable and proper. This argument is answered by our holding that there was not a Town of Bethania at the time the 1995 Act was adopted. They argue that the southern boundary of the original Bethania is coterminous with the southern boundary of Bethania Township. When the General Assembly created a new Bethania, say the plaintiffs, it was obvious the land excluded from the original Bethania was intended to be part of the City of Winston-Salem. The plaintiffs argue that this had the effect of changing the township line because there cannot be a city in a township.
Cities are within townships.
The fact that Winston-Salem may extend its boundary should have no effect on the Bethania Township line. This case is distinguishable from Gomillion in that the plaintiffs have never voted in Bethania. They have not been denied a right which they previously possessed. The plaintiffs have not cited a case and we cannot find one that deals with the effect of the Fifteenth Amendment on the incorporation of a town by a legislature. We do not believe that when such a situation occurs, the Amendment requires that any particular area must be included in the newly created town in order that the residents of that area may vote in municipal elections.