GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1999

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 94

Short Title:  Superior Court Division Elections.	(Public)

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Sponsors: Representatives Michaux; and Luebke.

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Referred to:  Judiciary IV.

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February 17, 1999

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO AMEND THE CONSTITUTION OF NORTH CAROLINA TO ALLOW ELECTION OF SUPERIOR COURT BY DIVISION, AND TO IMPLEMENT THAT AMENDMENT.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  Section 16 of Article IV of the Constitution of North Carolina reads as rewritten:
	"Sec. 16.  Terms of office and election of Justices of the Supreme Court, Judges of the Court of Appeals, and Judges of the Superior Court.  Justices of the Supreme Court, Judges of the Court of Appeals, and regular Judges of the Superior Court shall be elected by the qualified voters and shall hold office for terms of eight years and until their successors are elected and qualified.  Justices of the Supreme Court and Judges of the Court of Appeals shall be elected by the qualified voters of the State.  Regular Judges of the Superior Court may be elected by the qualified voters of the State, by the qualified voters of their judicial division, or by the voters of their respective districts, as the General Assembly may prescribe."
Section 2.  Section 11 of Article IV of the Constitution of North Carolina reads as rewritten:
	"Sec. 11.  Assignment of Judges.  The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, acting in accordance with rules of the Supreme Court, shall make assignments of Judges of the Superior Court and may transfer District Judges from one district to another for temporary or specialized duty, but regular Judges of Superior Court may be assigned outside of their judicial division only in the case of emergency. The principle of rotating Superior Court Judges among the various districts of a division is a salutary one and shall be observed. For this purpose the General Assembly shall divide the State into not less than eight judicial divisions.  Subject to the general supervision of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, assignment of District Judges within each local court district shall be made by the Chief District Judge."
Section 3.  The amendments set out in Sections 1 and 2 of this act shall be submitted to the qualified voters of the State at a statewide election on November 2, 1999, which election shall be conducted under the laws then governing elections in the State.  Ballots, voting systems, or both may be used in accordance with Chapter 163 of the General Statutes.  The question to be used in the voting systems and ballots shall be:
"[ ] FOR    [ ] AGAINST
Constitutional amendments allowing Judges of Superior Court to be elected by the qualified voters of their judicial division."
Section 4.  If a majority of the votes cast on the question are in favor of the amendments set out in Sections 1 and 2 of this act, the State Board of Elections shall certify the amendments to the Secretary of State.  The amendments become effective upon this certification.  The Secretary of State shall enroll the amendments so certified among the permanent records of that office.
Section 5.  G.S. 7A-41.2 reads as rewritten:
"§ 7A-41.2. Nomination and election of regular superior court judges.
Candidates for the office of regular superior court judge shall be both nominated and elected by the qualified voters of the superior court division for which the election is sought."
Section 6.  G.S. 163-1 is amended in the table by deleting the words "Superior Court District"in the column entitled "Jurisdiction"under the entry for "Judges of the Superior Court".
Section 7.  G.S. 163-140(b)(5) reads as rewritten:
"(5)	County Ballot: Beneath the title and general instructions set out in this subsection, the ballot for single-seat contests for county officers (including district attorney for the prosecutorial district in which the county is situated, district judge for the district court district in which the county is situated, and members of the General Assembly in the senatorial and representative districts in which the county is situated), and for all county offices where mechanical voting machines are used, shall be divided into parallel columns separated by distinct black lines. The county board of elections shall assign a separate column to each political party having candidates for the offices on the ballot and one to unaffiliated candidates, if any. At the head of each party column the party's name shall be printed in large type and at the head of the column for unaffiliated candidates shall be printed in large type the words 'Unaffiliated Candidates.' Below the party name in each column shall be printed a circle, one-half inch in diameter, around which shall be plainly printed the following instruction: 'For a straight ticket, mark within this circle.' With distinct black lines, the county board of elections shall divide the columns into horizontal sections and, in the customary order of office, assign a separate section to each office or group of offices to be filled. On a single line at the top of each section shall be printed the title of the office, and directly below the title shall be printed a direction as to the number of candidates for whom a vote may be cast. If candidates are to be chosen for different terms to the same office, the term in each instance shall be printed as part of the title of the office.
	     The name or names of each political party's candidate or candidates for each office listed on the ballot shall be printed in the appropriate office section of the proper party column, and the names of unaffiliated candidates shall be printed in the appropriate office section of the column headed 'Unaffiliated Candidates.' At the left of each name shall be printed a voting square, and in each column all voting squares shall be arranged in a perpendicular line.
	     On the face of the ballot, above the party and unaffiliated column division, the following instructions shall be printed in heavy black type, and the words 'you must also' in instruction c. shall be underlined:
'a.	To vote for all candidates of one party (a straight ticket), make a cross (X) mark in the circle of the party for whose candidates you wish to vote.
b.	You may vote a split ticket by not marking a cross (X) mark in the party circle, but by making a cross (X) mark in the square opposite the name of each candidate for whom you wish to vote.
c.	You may also vote a split ticket by marking a cross (X) mark in the party circle and then making a cross (X) mark in the square opposite the name of any candidate you choose of a different party. In any multi-seat race where a party circle is marked and you vote for candidates of another party, you must also make a cross (X) mark opposite the name of any candidate you choose of the party for which you marked the party circle to assure your vote will count.
d.	If you tear or deface or wrongly mark this ballot, return it and get another.'
	     On the bottom of the ballot shall be printed an identified facsimile of the signature of the chairman of the county board of elections. If the county ballot contains no multi-seat race, then the second sentence of instruction b. shall not appear on the ballot."
Section 8(a).  G.S. 163-192(a)(3a) reads as rewritten:
"(3a)	For superior court judges for the several judicial divisions in the State.
Section 8(b). G.S. 163-192(b)(4a) reads as rewritten:
"(4a)	For superior court judges for the several superior court divisions in the State."
Section 9.  G.S. 7A-41(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	The counties of the State are organized into judicial divisions and superior court districts, and each superior court district has the counties, and the number of regular resident superior court judges set forth in the following table, and for districts of less than a whole county, as set out in subsection (b) of this section:
	Superior
Judicial	Court 	No. of Resident
Division	District	Counties		Judges

1A	1	Camden, Chowan,	2
Currituck,
Dare, Gates,
Pasquotank, 
Perquimans
1A	2	Beaufort, Hyde,	1
Martin,
Tyrrell, Washington
1A	3A	Pitt	2
1B	3B	Carteret, Craven,	2
Pamlico
1B	4A	Duplin, Jones, 	1
Sampson
1B	4B	Onslow	1
1B	5	New Hanover, 	3
Pender
1A	6A	Halifax	1
1A	6B	Bertie, Hertford,	1
Northampton
1A	7A	Nash	1
1A	7B	(part of Wilson,	1
part of Edgecombe,
see subsection (b))
1A	7C	(part of Wilson,	1
part of Edgecombe,
see subsection (b))
1B	8A	Lenoir and Greene	1
1B	8B	Wayne	1
2A	9	Franklin, Granville, 	2
Vance, Warren
2A	9A	Person, Caswell	1
2A	10A	(part of Wake,	2
see subsection (b))
2A	10B	(part of Wake,	2
see subsection (b))
2A	10C	(part of Wake,	1
see subsection (b))
2A	10D	(part of Wake,	1
see subsection (b))
2B	11A	Harnett, Lee 	1
2B	11B	Johnston	1
2B	12A	(part of Cumberland, 	1
see subsection (b))
2B	12B	(part of Cumberland,	1
see subsection (b))
2B	12C	(part of Cumberland,	2
see subsection (b))
2B	13	Bladen, Brunswick,	2
Columbus
2A	14A	(part of Durham,	1
see subsection (b))
2A	14B	(part of Durham,	3
see subsection (b))
2A	15A	Alamance	2
2A	15B	Orange, Chatham	1
2B	16A	Scotland, Hoke	1
2B	16B	Robeson	2
3A	17A	Rockingham	2
3A	17B	Stokes, Surry	2
3B	18A	(part of Guilford,	1
see subsection (b))
3B	18B	(part of Guilford,	1
see subsection (b))
3B	18C	(part of Guilford,	1
see subsection (b))
3B	18D	(part of Guilford,	1
see subsection (b))
3B	18E	(part of Guilford,	1
see subsection (b))
3B	19A	Cabarrus	1
3B	19B	Montgomery, Moore	2
Randolph
3B	19C	Rowan	1
3B	20A	Anson, Richmond 	12
3B	20B	Stanly, Union	2
3A	21A	(part of Forsyth,	1
see subsection (b))
3A	21B	(part of Forsyth,	1
see subsection (b))
3A	21C	(part of Forsyth,	1
see subsection (b))
3A	21D	(part of Forsyth,	1
see subsection (b))
3A	22	Alexander, Davidson,	2
Davie, Iredell
3A	23	Alleghany, Ashe, 	1
Wilkes, Yadkin
4A	24	Avery, Madison,	1
Mitchell, 
Watauga, Yancey
4A	25A	Burke, Caldwell 	2
4A	25B	Catawba	2
4B	26A	(part of Mecklenburg,	2
	see subsection (b))
4B	26B	(part of Mecklenburg,	2
see subsection (b))
4B	26C	(part of Mecklenburg,	2
see subsection (b))
4B	27A	Gaston	2
4B	27B	Cleveland, Lincoln	2
4A	28	Buncombe	2
4A	29	Henderson,	2
McDowell, Polk,
Rutherford,
Transylvania
4A	30A	Cherokee, Clay,	1
Graham, Macon,
Swain
4A	30B	Haywood, Jackson	1."
Section 10.  Sections 5 through 9 of this act become effective only if the qualified voters approve the constitutional amendments proposed by Sections 1 and 2 of this act, and if they are so approved, Sections 5 through 9 of this act become effective beginning with respect to the 2000 election, and Section 9 becomes effective January 1, 2001, for all other purposes.