GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
FIRST EXTRA SESSION 2018
HOUSE BILL 3
RATIFIED BILL
AN ACT to clarify the designations to appear on the ballot for constitutional amendments and other referenda.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.(a) G.S. 163A‑1114(h) reads as rewritten:
"(h) Order of Precedence
for Referenda. – TheWithout referencing a numerical order or other
reference of order by category or within a category, the referendum
questions to be voted on shall be arranged on the official ballot in the
following order:
(1) Proposed amendments to
the North Carolina Constitution, in the chronological order in which the
proposals were approved by the General Assembly. Proposed amendments shall be
designated by only the short caption provided by the Constitutional
Amendments Publication Commission under Article 4A of Chapter 147 of the
General Statutes.phrase "Constitutional Amendment" prior to
setting forth the referendum question.
(2) Other referenda to be voted on by all voters in the State, in the chronological order in which the proposals were approved by the General Assembly.
(3) Referenda to be voted on by fewer than all the voters in the State, in the chronological order of the acts by which the referenda were properly authorized."
SECTION 1.(b) This section is effective when it becomes law and applies to ballots used in the 2018 general election and thereafter. No numerical order or other reference of order for referenda, by category or within a category, shall appear on the 2018 general election ballot. Any captions adopted by the Constitutional Amendments Publication Commission pursuant to G.S. 147‑54.10(a) prior to this bill becoming law are null and void and shall not appear on the ballot used in the 2018 general election.
SECTION 2. G.S. 147‑54.10(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a) At least 75 days
before an election in which a proposed amendment to the Constitution, or a
revised or new Constitution, is to be voted on, the Commission shall prepare an
explanation of the amendment, revision, or new Constitution in simple and
commonly used language. The explanation shall include a short caption
reflecting the contents,that shall not include a numerical or other reference
of order, to be used on the ballot and the printed summary."
SECTION 3. Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 24th day of July, 2018.
s/ Philip E. Berger
President Pro Tempore of the Senate
s/ Tim Moore
Speaker of the House of Representatives
_____________________________________
Roy Cooper
Governor
Approved __________.m. this ______________ day of ___________________, 2018