GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2005
H 4
HOUSE BILL 88
Committee Substitute Favorable 3/28/05
Committee
Substitute #2 Favorable 8/23/05
Fourth Edition Engrossed 8/24/05
Short Title: Electoral Fairness Act. |
(Public) |
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Sponsors: |
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Referred to: |
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February 7, 2005
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to reduce the number of signatures required of a new political party and of a statewide unaffiliated candidate to achieve ballot eligibility; to reduce the number of votes a new political party must gain for a nominee in order to maintain ballot eligibility; to move to a date before the political party primaries the deadlines for filing new political party petitions and nominating new political party candidates; to extend filing fee provisions to new party and unaffiliated candidates; and to provide that a candidate who ran in a party primary for an office is not eligible for nomination by another party to fill a vacancy in its nomination for the same office in the same year.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 163-96(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a) Definition. - A political party within the meaning of the election laws of this State shall be either:
(1) Any group of voters
which, at the last preceding general State election, polled for its candidate
for Governor, or for presidential electors, at least ten seven percent
(10%) (7%) of the entire vote cast in the State for Governor or
for presidential electors; or
(2) Any group of voters
which shall have filed with the State Board of Elections petitions for the
formulation of a new political party which are signed by registered and
qualified voters in this State equal in number to two percent (2%) of the total
number of voters who voted in the most recent general election for Governor.
Also the petition must be signed by at least 200 registered voters from each of
four congressional districts in North Carolina. To be effective, the
petitioners must file their petitions with the State Board of Elections before
12:00 noon on the first day of June April preceding the day on
which is to be held the first general State election in which the new political
party desires to participate. The State Board of Elections shall forthwith
determine the sufficiency of petitions filed with it and shall immediately
communicate its determination to the State chairman of the proposed new
political party."
SECTION 2. G.S. 163-97 reads as rewritten:
"§ 163-97. Termination of status as political party.
When any political party fails to poll for its candidate for
governor, or for presidential electors, at least ten seven percent
(10%) (7%) of the entire vote cast in the State for governor or
for presidential electors at a general election, it shall cease to be a
political party within the meaning of the primary and general election laws and
all other provisions of this Chapter."
SECTION 3. G.S. 163-98 reads as rewritten:
"§ 163-98. General election participation by new political party.
In the first general election following the date on which a new
political party qualifies under the provisions of G.S. 163-96, it shall be
entitled to have the names of its candidates for national, State,
congressional, and local offices printed on the official ballots.ballots
upon paying a filing fee equal to that provided for candidates for the office
in G.S. 163-107 or upon complying with the alternative available to
candidates for the office in G.S. 163-107.1.
For the first general election following the date on which it
qualifies under G.S. 163-96, a new political party shall select its
candidates by party convention. Following adjournment of the nominating
convention, but not later than the first day of July May prior to
the general election, the president of the convention shall certify to the
State Board of Elections the names of persons chosen in the convention as the
new party's candidates for State, congressional, and national offices in
the ensuing general election. The State Board of Elections shall print names
thus certified on the appropriate ballots as the nominees of the new party. The
State Board of Elections shall send to each county board of elections the list
of any new party candidates so that the county board can add those names to the
appropriate ballot."
SECTION 4. G.S. 163-122(a)(1) reads as rewritten:
"(a) Procedure for Having Name Printed on Ballot as Unaffiliated Candidate. - Any qualified voter who seeks to have his name printed on the general election ballot as an unaffiliated candidate shall:
(1) If the office is a
statewide office, file written petitions with the State Board of Elections
supporting his candidacy for a specified office. These petitions must be filed
with the State Board of Elections on or before 12:00 noon on the last Friday in
June preceding the general election and must be signed by qualified voters of
the State equal in number to two percent (2%) of the total number of registered
voters in the State as reflected by the voter registration records of the State
Board of Elections as of January 1 of the year in which the general election is
to be held.voters who voted in the most recent general election for
Governor. Also, the petition must be signed by at least 200 registered voters
from each of four congressional districts in North Carolina. No later than
5:00 p.m. on the fifteenth day preceding the date the petitions are due to be
filed with the State Board of Elections, each petition shall be presented to
the chairman of the board of elections of the county in which the signatures
were obtained. Provided the petitions are timely submitted, the chairman shall
examine the names on the petition and place a check mark on the petition by the
name of each signer who is qualified and registered to vote in his county and
shall attach to the petition his signed certificate. Said certificates shall
state that the signatures on the petition have been checked against the
registration records and shall indicate the number of signers to be qualified
and registered to vote in his county. The chairman shall return each petition, together
with the certificate required in this section, to the person who presented it
to him for checking. Verification by the chairman of the county board of
elections shall be completed within two weeks from the date such petitions are
presented.
…."
SECTION 5. G.S. 163-122 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(d) Any candidate seeking to have that candidate's name printed on the general election ballot under this section shall pay a filing fee equal to that provided for candidates for the office in G.S. 163-107 or comply with the alternative available to candidates for the office in G.S. 163-107.1."
SECTION 6. G.S. 163-114 reads as rewritten:
"§ 163-114. Filling vacancies among party nominees occurring after nomination and before election.
If any person nominated as a candidate of a political party for one of the offices listed below (either in a primary or convention or by virtue of having no opposition in a primary) dies, resigns, or for any reason becomes ineligible or disqualified before the date of the ensuing general election, the vacancy shall be filled by appointment according to the following instructions:
Position
President Vacancy is to be filled by appointment of
Vice President national executive committee of
political party in which vacancy occurs
Presidential elector or alternate elector Vacancy is to be filled by appointment of
Any elective State office State executive committee of political
United States Senator party in which vacancy occurs
A district office, including: Appropriate district executive committee of
Member of the United States House political party in which vacancy occurs
of Representatives
District Attorney
State Senator in a multi-county
senatorial district
Member of State House of
Representatives in a multi-county
representative district
State Senator in a single-county County executive committee of political
senatorial district party in which vacancy occurs,
Member of State House of provided, in the case of the State
Representatives in a single-county Senator or State Representative in a
representative district single-county district where not all the
Any elective county office county is located in that district, then in
voting, only those members of the
county executive committee who reside
within the district shall vote
The party executive making a nomination in accordance with the provisions of this section shall certify the name of its nominee to the chairman of the board of elections, State or county, that has jurisdiction over the ballot item under G.S. 163-182.4. If at the time a nomination is made under this section the general election ballots have already been printed, the provisions of G.S.163-165.3(c) shall apply. If a vacancy occurs in a nomination of a political party and that vacancy arises from a cause other than death and the vacancy in nomination occurs more than 120 days before the general election, the vacancy in nomination may be filled under this section only if the appropriate executive committee certifies the name of the nominee in accordance with this paragraph at least 75 days before the general election.
In a county not all of which is located in one congressional district, in choosing the congressional district executive committee member or members from that area of the county, only the county convention delegates or county executive committee members who reside within the area of the county which is within the congressional district may vote.
In a county which is partly in a multi-county senatorial district or which is partly in a multi-county House of Representatives district, in choosing that county's member or members of the senatorial district executive committee or House of Representatives district executive committee for the multi-county district, only the county convention delegates or county executive committee members who reside within the area of the county which is within that multi-county district may vote.
An individual whose name appeared on the ballot in a primary election preliminary to the general election shall not be eligible to be nominated to fill a vacancy in the nomination of another party for the same office in the same year."
SECTION 7. This act becomes effective January 1, 2006, and applies to all primaries and elections held on or after that date.