GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2017

SESSION LAW 2017-72

HOUSE BILL 245

AN ACT to amend the charter of the city of winston‑salem to establish a uniform process for the election of independent or nonpartisan candidates in municipal elections.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  Paragraph 6 of Section 12A of the Charter of the City of Winston‑Salem, being Chapter 232 of the Private Laws of 1927, as amended by Chapter 13 of the 1965 Session Laws, and by Ordinance dated January 6, 2003, reads as rewritten:

"Sec. 12A. Generally.

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6. Independent or nonpartisan candidates; petition; affidavit of candidates; filing of petition; rules and regulations governing petitions. The Forsyth County Board of Elections shall include among the candidates for municipal office, as independent or nonpartisan candidates, the name of any qualified voter who has been requested to be a candidate for office by written petitions signed by at least twenty‑five percent (25%) of those entitled to vote for a candidate for such office according to the vote cast in the last municipal election for the particular office, when such petition is accompanied by an affidavit from such proposed candidate that he seeks to become an independent or nonpartisan candidate and does not affiliate with any political party; provided, such petition is filed with the secretary of the board of elections on or before twelve o'clock Noon on the third Friday preceding the general municipal election for such office.TheAny candidate seeking nomination by petition for municipal office shall comply with the requirements of Article 11 of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes, provided the Forsyth County board of elections may prescribe rules and regulations covering governing the following:

(1) Setting the date and time completed petitions must be timely submitted for verification.

(2) Stating the information that shall be set out in the petition to be signed by the voters requesting a person to be a candidate for any such office, such as the giving of the full name of every such voter, the street address of such voter and any other pertinent information required to facilitate the checking of such petition against the registration books.

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SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 28^th day of June, 2017.

                                                                    s/  Daniel J. Forest

                                                                         President of the Senate

                                                                    s/  David R. Lewis

                                                                         Presiding Officer of the House of Representatives