GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2011

SESSION LAW 2011-132

HOUSE BILL 360

AN ACT to allow the town of columbia to have limited or no one-stop early voting for municipal elections when no other elections are on the ballot.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 163-227.2(f) reads as rewritten:

"(f)       Notwithstanding the exception specified in G.S. 163-36, counties which operate a modified full-time office shall remain open five days each week during regular business hours consistent with daily hours presently observed by the county board of elections, commencing with the date prescribed in G.S. 163-227.2(b) and continuing until 5:00 P.M. on the Friday prior to that election and shall also be open on the last Saturday before the election. A county board may conduct one-stop absentee voting during evenings or on weekends, as long as the hours are part of a plan submitted and approved according to subsection (g) of this section. The boards of county commissioners shall provide necessary funds for the additional operation of the office during that time.

The governing board of a municipality located in a county with a modified full-time board of elections office may provide by resolution that either (i) the board of elections will not be open for one-stop absentee voting for elections beyond the hours or days it is regularly open or (ii) there will not be one-stop absentee voting for the municipal election. This paragraph only applies to a municipal election conducted on a date when there are no statewide or county issues or candidates on the ballot. Such resolution must be adopted no later than 90 days prior to an election in order to be effective for that election. Any such resolution shall remain effective for all future elections unless repealed no later than 90 days before an election. Mail-in absentee voting is still permitted, if authorized under G.S. 163-302."

SECTION 2.  This act applies only to the Town of Columbia.

SECTION 3.  This act is effective with respect to elections conducted on or after September 1, 2011.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 15^th day of June, 2011.

                                                                    s/  Walter H. Dalton

                                                                         President of the Senate

                                                                    s/  Thom Tillis

                                                                         Speaker of the House of Representatives