GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2023
SESSION LAW 2023-41
HOUSE BILL 308
AN ACT to require a referendum on whether to change the election method for the ALEXANDER COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION from nonpartisan to partisan.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.(a) Section 1 of Chapter 774 of the 1969 Session Laws reads as rewritten:
"Section 1. The Board
of Education of Alexander County Board of Education shall consist of
six seven members to be elected for staggered terms of
four (4) years as hereinafter provided.years. Members shall be
elected from seven single‑member electoral districts. One member shall be
elected from each district, and the qualified voters of each district shall
elect the member for that district. Only qualified voters residing in that
district may vote for the member from that district, and each candidate for a
district seat shall reside in the district in which the candidate seeks
election."
SECTION 1.(b) Section 3 of Chapter 774 of the 1969 Session Laws reads as rewritten:
"Sec. 3. Members of the
Alexander County Board of Education shall be elected in a non-Partisan
Election to be held on a partisan basis at the time of the general
election for nomination of candidates for the General Assembly. in
each even‑numbered year as terms expire. Candidates for election to the
Alexander County Board of Education shall be nominated at the same time and
manner as other county officers. Candidates for the office of membership
on the Board of Education of Alexander County shall be eligible
electors and Board of Education shall file notice of candidacy with
the County Board of Elections of Alexander County in the same manner and at such
the same time as that for candidates for the General Assembly
prior to the date of said primary election, and county officers. The notice
of candidacy shall be accompanied by a filing fee of ten ($10.00) dollars. The
notice of candidacy shall state the name, age, residence and district of the candidate,
together with and shall include a statement that such the
candidate desires to be voted upon as a member of said the Alexander
County Board of Education. Except as provided by this act, the election
shall be conducted in accordance with the applicable provisions of Chapters
115C and 163 of the General Statutes."
SECTION 1.(c) Section 4 of Chapter 774 of the 1969 Session Laws reads as rewritten:
"Sec. 4. The present
five members of the Board of Education of Alexander County shall hold their
offices until the expiration of the terms for which they were appointed,
provided: the term of office of one of the two appointed members from District
number 1 shall expire on the first Monday in December, 1970, and the term of
office of the one appointed member from District number 4 shall expire on the
first Monday in December, 1970; the term of office of the second appointed
member from District number 1, the term of office of the one appointed member
from District number 2, and the term of office of the one appointed member from
District number 3, shall expire on the first Monday in December, 1972. In any
case the present members of the Alexander County Board of Education, or those
appointed to fill unexpired terms of said members, shall hold their offices
until Members shall serve until their successors are elected and
qualified. All members elected in any election shall take office on the first
Monday in December of the year in which elected."
SECTION 1.(d) Section 7 of Chapter 774 of the 1969 Session Laws reads as rewritten:
"Sec. 7. In the
event the number of candidates in a district does not exceed the number of
vacancies to be filled in that district, no election shall be necessary and the
candidate(s) shall be declared elected. Vacancies on the Alexander
County Board which arise during a term of office of Education shall
be filled for the unexpired term by majority vote of the remaining members
of the Board of Education of Alexander County.in accordance with G.S. 115C‑37.1."
SECTION 1.(e) Sections 2, 5, and 6 of Chapter 774 of the 1969 Session Laws are repealed.
SECTION 1.(f) Section 8 of Chapter 774 of the 1969 Session Laws, as amended by Section 9 of S.L. 2015‑103, is repealed.
SECTION 1.(g) This section does not affect the terms of office of any person elected in 2022 or 2024 to the Alexander County Board of Education. Any vacancy on the Alexander County Board of Education for a member elected in 2022 or 2024 shall be filled by the remaining members of the Alexander County Board of Education. The members of the Alexander County Board of Education elected in 2022 or 2024, or any member appointed to fill a vacancy of a member elected in 2022 or 2024, shall serve until a successor has been elected and qualified.
SECTION 2.(a) G.S. 115C‑37.1(d) reads as rewritten:
"(d) This section shall apply only in the following counties: Alexander, Alleghany, Beaufort, Brunswick, Carteret, Cherokee, Clay, Dare, Davie, Graham, Guilford, Harnett, Hyde, Iredell, Lee, Madison, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender, Rutherford, Stanly, Stokes, Surry, Vance, Washington, and Yancey."
SECTION 2.(b) This section becomes effective December 1, 2026.
SECTION 3. Sections 1 and 2 of this act become effective only if approved by a majority of the qualified voters of Alexander County in a referendum. The election shall be conducted by the Alexander County Board of Elections in the 2024 general election. The question to be used in the voting systems and ballots shall be:
"[ ] FOR [ ] AGAINST
Changing the method of election for the Alexander County Board of Education from nonpartisan to partisan."
SECTION 4. If the majority of the votes cast in the referendum in Section 3 of this act are in favor of the question, Section 1 of this act becomes effective with respect to elections conducted in 2026 and thereafter and Section 2 of this act becomes effective December 1, 2026. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 14th day of June, 2023.
s/ Phil Berger
President Pro Tempore of the Senate
s/ Tim Moore
Speaker of the House of Representatives