NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1965 SESSION

CHAPTER 558
HOUSE BILL 710

AN ACT RELATING TO THE NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF CHATHAM COUNTY.

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:
Section 1. For the purposes of nominating and electing members of the Board of County Commissioners of Chatham County, the county is hereby divided into five districts as follows:
District Number One shall consist of all the territory within the boundaries of the townships of Center, Hadley, and Hickory Mountain.
District Number Two shall consist of all the territory within the boundaries of the townships of Mathews and Albright.
District Number Three shall consist of all the territory within the boundaries of the townships of Baldwin, New Hope and Williams.
District Number Four shall consist of all the territory within the boundaries of the townships of Haw River, Cape Fear, and Oakland.
District Number Five shall consist of all the territory within the boundaries of the townships of Bear Creek and Gulf.
Sec. 2. The five county commissioners holding office at the date of ratification of this Act, or any successor appointed to fill any unexpired portion of the present terms of such commissioners, shall hold said office until the next general election for county officers and until the commissioners authorized under this Act are elected and qualified.
Sec. 3. At the primary and general elections to be held in 1966, there shall be nominated and elected one commissioner from each district. The three candidates receiving the highest number of votes in the general election shall serve for a term of four years each. The two candidates receiving the next highest number of votes in the 1966 general election shall serve for a term of two years each. At the 1968 primary and general election, and quadrennially thereafter, there shall be nominated and elected two commissioners for the districts represented by the persons whose terms then expire. At the 1970 primary and general election, and quadrennially thereafter, there shall be nominated and elected three commissioners for the districts represented by the persons whose terms then expire. Each candidate so nominated shall be a resident and qualified voter of the district in which he is a candidate.
Sec. 4. Each candidate for nomination to the office of county commissioner under this Act shall be voted upon in the primary only by the qualified voters of the district of which he is a resident and from which he is a candidate.
Sec. 5. In the general election, all candidates for the office of county commissioner shall be voted upon by the qualified voters of the county as a whole, irrespective of the district from which such candidates were nominated.
Sec. 6. The primary election and the general election provided in this Act shall be called and conducted, and the results determined and certified in accordance with the general laws governing elections.
Sec. 7. Chapter 326 of the Session Laws of 1951 and all other laws and clauses of laws in conflict with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.
Sec. 8. This Act shall become effective upon its ratification.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 14th day of May, 1965.