NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

EXTRA SESSION 1966

 

 

CHAPTER 5

HOUSE BILL 1

 

 

AN ACT TO ESTABLISH REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICTS, TO APPORTION SEATS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AMONG THOSE DISTRICTS, AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES BY DISTRICTS.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

 

Section 1.  G.S. 120-2 is rewritten to read as follows:

"§ 120-2.  House of Representatives. For the purpose of nominating and electing members of the House of Representatives in 1966 and every two years thereafter, representative districts are established and seats in the House of Representatives are apportioned among those districts as follows, which representative districts shall be numbered from 1 through 49, consecutively:

District 1 shall consist of Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Gates, Pasquotank, and Perquimans Counties and shall elect two Representatives.

District 2 shall consist of Beaufort, Dare, Hyde, Tyrrell, and Washington Counties and shall elect two Representatives.

District 3 shall consist of Carteret, Craven, and Pamlico Counties and shall elect three Representatives.

District 4 shall consist of Onslow and Pender Counties and shall elect three Representatives.

District 5 shall consist of New Hanover County and shall elect two Representatives.

District 6 shall consist of Bertie, Hertford, and Northampton Counties and shall elect two Representatives.

District 7 shall consist of Halifax and Martin Counties and shall elect two Representatives.

District 8 shall consist of Pitt County and shall elect two Representatives.

District 9 shall consist of Greene, Jones, and Lenoir Counties and shall elect two Representatives.

District 10 shall consist of Wayne County and shall elect two Representatives.

District 11 shall consist of Duplin County and shall elect one Representative.

District 12 shall consist of Bladen and Sampson Counties and shall elect two Representatives.

District 13 shall consist of Brunswick and Columbus Counties and shall elect two Representatives.

District 14 shall consist of Edgecombe and Nash Counties and shall elect three Representatives.

District 15 shall consist of Johnston and Wilson Counties and shall elect three Representatives.

District 16 shall consist of Franklin, Vance, and Warren Counties and shall elect two Representatives.

District 17 shall consist of Caswell, Granville, and Person Counties and shall elect two Representatives.

District 18 shall consist of Durham County and shall elect three Representatives.

District 19 shall consist of Wake County and shall elect four Representatives.

District 20 shall consist of Chatham and Orange Counties and shall elect two Representatives.

District 21 shall consist of Alamance County and shall elect two Representatives.

District 22 shall consist of Harnett and Lee Counties and shall elect two Representatives.

District 23 shall consist of Cumberland County and shall elect four Representatives.

District 24 shall consist of Hoke, Robeson, and Scotland Counties and shall elect four Representatives.

District 25 shall consist of Rockingham County and shall elect two Representatives.

District 26 shall consist of Guilford County and shall elect six Representatives.

District 27 shall consist of Montgomery and Randolph Counties and shall elect two Representatives.

District 28 shall consist of Moore County and shall elect one Representative.

District 29 shall consist of Richmond County and shall elect one Representative.

District 30 shall consist of Forsyth County and shall elect five Representatives.

District 31 shall consist of Davidson County and shall elect two Representatives.

District 32 shall consist of Stanly County and shall elect one Representative.

District 33 shall consist of Anson and Union Counties and shall elect two Representatives.

District 34 shall consist of Rowan County and shall elect two Representatives.

District 35 shall consist of Cabarrus County and shall elect two Representatives.

District 36 shall consist of Mecklenburg County and shall elect seven Representatives.

District 37 shall consist of Alleghany, Ashe, Stokes, and Surry Counties and shall elect three Representatives.

District 38 shall consist of Wilkes and Yadkin Counties and shall elect two Representatives.

District 39 shall consist of Davie and Iredell Counties and shall elect two Representatives.

District 40 shall consist of Catawba County and shall elect two Representatives.

District 41 shall consist of Gaston and Lincoln Counties and shall elect four Representatives.

District 42 shall consist of Alexander, Burke, and Caldwell Counties and shall elect three Representatives.

District 43 shall consist of Cleveland, Polk, and Rutherford Counties and shall elect three Representatives.

District 44 shall consist of Avery, Mitchell, and Watauga Counties and shall elect one Representative.

District 45 shall consist of Buncombe and McDowell Counties and shall elect four Representatives.

District 46 shall consist of Henderson County and shall elect one Representative.

District 47 shall consist of Haywood, Madison, and Yancey Counties and shall elect two Representatives.

District 48 shall consist of Jackson, Swain, and Transylvania Counties and shall elect one Representative.

District 49 shall consist of Cherokee, Clay, Graham, and Macon Counties and shall elect one Representative.

Sec. 2.  Paragraph (13) of G.S. 163-14 is rewritten to read as follows:

"To issue certificates of election to county officers and members of the General Assembly, except those elected in districts composed of more than one county."

Sec. 3.  The first paragraph of G.S. 163-89 is amended to read as follows:

"When the county boards of elections shall have completed the original abstracts, they shall also prepare separate duplicate abstracts for all offices for which the State Board of Elections is required to canvass the votes and declare the results, which shall include the following: For President and Vice-President; for State officers and United States Senator; for Representatives to Congress; for solicitors; for State Senators in senatorial districts composed of more than one county; for members of the State House of Representatives in representative districts composed of more than one county; and for amendments and propositions submitted."

Sec. 4.  The first sentence of G.S. 163-91 is amended to read as follows:

"In the general election, the person having the greatest number of legal votes for a county or township office, or for membership in one of the houses of the General Assembly in a representative or senatorial district composed of only one county, shall be declared elected by the county board of elections."

Sec. 5.  The first sentence of G.S. 163-92 is amended to read as follows:

"The chairman of the county board of elections of each county shall furnish, within ten days, the person or persons elected to membership in the General Assembly in representative and senatorial districts composed of only one county, and the county officers, a certificate of election under his hand and seal."

Sec. 6.  The first sentence of G.S. 163-93 is amended to read as follows:

"The State Board of Elections shall constitute the legal canvassing board for the State of all national, State and district offices, including the offices of State Senator and member of the State House of Representatives in those senatorial and representative districts consisting of more than one county."

Sec. 7.  G.S. 163-96 is amended by renumbering paragraph (6) thereof as "(7)" and by inserting therein a new paragraph (6) to read as follows:

"(6)      Upon another sheet an abstract of votes for members of the State House of Representatives in the several representative districts in the State, where such districts are composed of more than one county."

Sec. 8.  The first sentence of G.S. 163-124 is amended to read as follows:

"When the time for filing notices by candidates for nomination shall have expired, the chairman of the State Board of Elections shall within three days thereafter certify the facts as to such notices as have been filed with it to the Secretary of State; and in the representative districts composed of more than one county and in the senatorial districts composed of more than one county where there is no agreement as provided for in § 163-113, the chairman or secretary of the county board of elections of each county in such representative or senatorial district shall, within three days after the time for filing such notice shall have expired, certify to every other chairman of the county board of elections in such representative or senatorial district the names of all candidates who have filed notice of candidacy in their respective counties for the office of member of the State House of Representatives or for the office of State Senator; and said chairman, acting under the direction of the State Board of Elections and under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by it, shall, without delay, at the expense of the State, cause a sufficient number of official ballots to be printed for each political party having candidates to be voted for in the primary and distributed to the chairman of the county boards of elections in the several counties, upon which ballot shall appear the names of candidates who shall, under the provisions of this Article, have filed notice of their candidacy and otherwise complied with the requirements of this Article, except candidates for offices ballots for which are herein provided to be printed by the several county boards of elections, so that such ballots shall be received by the respective county boards of elections at least thirty days before the date of holding such primaries."

Sec. 9.  G.S. 163-128 is amended by inserting in line 6 thereof after the word "Senate" and before the word "in," the words "or House of Representatives."

Sec. 10.  G.S. 163-132 is amended by inserting in line 17 thereof after the word "Senator" and before the word "and," a comma and the words "State Representative."

Sec. 11.  G.S. 163-134 is amended to read as follows:

"In all cases where only one aspirant for nomination by the party with which he affiliates for the State Senate or House of Representatives in a senatorial or representative district composed of only one county, or for a county office, shall have filed the notice of candidacy in this Article required, the county board of elections shall, upon the expiration of the time fixed for filing such notice, declare him the nominee of his party, and his name shall therefore not be placed on the primary ballot, but shall be placed upon the ballot to be voted at the general election as his party's candidate for such office."

Sec. 12.  G.S. 163-137 is amended to read as follows:

"The county boards of elections of the several counties shall tabulate the returns made by the judges and registrars of the several precincts in their respective counties with reference to candidates in the primaries, so as to show the total number of votes cast for each candidate of each political party for each office, and, when thus compiled on blanks to be prepared and furnished by the State Board of Elections for the purpose, these returns, in the case of officers other than members of the State House of Representatives and State Senate in representative and senatorial districts composed of only one county, and county officers, shall be made out for each county in duplicate, and one copy shall be forwarded to the State Board of Elections and one copy shall be filed with the Clerk of the Superior Court of the county from which such returns are made; in the case of a State Representative or State Senator in a representative or senatorial district composed of only one county, and county officers, such returns shall be made out in duplicate, and one copy thereof filed with the Clerk of the Superior Court and one copy retained by the county board of elections, which shall forthwith, as to such last mentioned offices, publish and declare the results."

Sec. 13.  (a) The proviso beginning in line 6 of the second paragraph of G.S. 163‑140 is amended to read as follows:

"Provided further, that unless the aspirant for a county, township, or single-county legislative district office who receives the second highest number of votes shall, by twelve o'clock noon on the fifth day after the result of the first primary election shall have been officially declared, and such aspirant has been notified by the chairman or secretary of the appropriate county board of elections, file in writing with the appropriate county board of elections a request that a second primary be called and held, the aspirant receiving the highest number of votes cast shall be declared nominated by the county board of elections; or unless the aspirant for a legislative office in a multi-county senatorial or representative district, or for a district or State office required by law to file with the State Board of Elections, who receives the second highest number of votes shall, by twelve o'clock noon on the third day after the result of the first primary election shall have been officially declared, and such aspirant has been notified by the chairman or secretary of the State Board of Elections, file in writing or by telegram with the State Board of Elections a request that a second primary be called and held, the aspirant receiving the highest number of votes cast shall be declared nominated by the State Board of Elections."

(b)        The first sentence of the fifth paragraph of G.S. 163-140 is amended to read as follows:

"In the event of a tie vote between two candidates for party nomination for a county, township, or single-county legislative district office in the first primary, a recount of the votes for both candidates shall be made by the county board of elections in the county in which the two candidates were voted for, and the results of said recount shall be declared by the county board of elections."

(c)        The third sentence of the fifth paragraph of G. S. 163-140 is amended to read as follows:

"In the event of a tie vote in a primary election between two candidates for any State office, or for United States Senator, or for any district office (including State Senator and Representative in a multi-county senatorial or representative district), no recount shall be held by reason of the tie, but the two candidates having a tie vote shall be entered in a second primary to be held on the prescribed date for second primaries, unless one of the two candidates files a notice of withdrawal with the State Board of Elections within three days after the results of the first primary have been officially declared and published."

Sec. 14.  The first sentence of G.S. 163-145, is amended to read as follows:

"In the event that any person nominated in any primary election, or a person who has been declared nominated without opposition after the time for filing notice of candidacy has expired, as the candidate of a political party for a State office, including the office of United States Senator, shall die, resign or for any reason become ineligible or disqualified before the date of the ensuing general election, the vacancy in the nomination caused thereby shall be filled by the action of the State executive committee of such political party in which the vacancy occurred; in the event of such a vacancy in the nomination of a candidate for a district office, including the offices of Representative in the Congress of the United States, Judge of the Superior Court, solicitor, or State Senator or Representative in a senatorial or representative district composed of more than one county, the same shall be filled by the action of the appropriate executive committee for such district of such political party in which the vacancy occurred; and in the event of such vacancy in the nomination of a candidate for a county office or for membership in one of the houses of the General Assembly in a representative or senatorial district composed of only one county, and including the county entitled to furnish the senator under a rotation agreement as provided for in § 163-113, the same shall be filled by the action of the executive committee of the party affected thereby in the county wherein such vacancy occurred; provided that where the general election ballots have already been printed before the vacancy occurs then § 163-153 shall apply."

Sec. 15.  G.S. 163-193 is amended by changing the period in line 18 following the word "sentence" to a colon, and by inserting the following proviso in the said line before the word "It":

"Provided, however, that candidates for the House of Representatives in multi-county representative districts shall file copies of the said statement with the Clerk of Superior Court of each county in the representative district."

Sec. 16.  Chapter 826, Session Laws of 1957; Chapter 484, Session Laws of 1961; Chapter 621, Session Laws of 1959; Chapter 894, Session Laws of 1945; Chapter 442, Session Laws of 1955; Chapter 103, Public-Local Laws of 1941; Chapter 439, Session Laws of 1955; Chapter 238, Session Laws of 1959; and all other special and local acts providing for the nomination of candidates for the State House of Representatives by convention in any county, are modified and amended as follows: In the several representative districts of the State containing two or more counties, each political party shall nominate candidates for membership in the State House of Representatives according to the provisions of the state‑wide primary law, Article 19, Chapter 163 of the General Statutes of North Carolina, or by district convention of the party when so provided by law. In a county assigned to a multi-county representative district, no political party shall nominate candidates for the State House of Representatives by party convention for the single county.

Sec. 17.  All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed, except that G.S. 120-2 as that Section read immediately prior to the ratification of this Act shall remain in force until November 7, 1966, for the sole purpose of governing the filling of vacancies occurring in the membership of the General Assembly elected in 1964.

Sec. 18.  This Act shall take effect upon its ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 14th day of January, 1966.