North Carolina HB 271: Cabarrus County Local Omnibus.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 2
HOUSE BILL 271
Committee Substitute Favorable 5/13/25

Short Title: Cabarrus Co Local Omnibus. (Local)
Sponsors:
Referred to:
March 5, 2025
*H271-v-2*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO REQUIRE A REFERENDUM IN EACH MUNICIPALITY WHOLLY 2
LOCATED WITHIN CABARRUS COUNTY ON WHETHER TO CHANGE THE 3
METHOD OF ELECTION FROM NONPARTISAN TO PARTISAN; AND TO MODIFY 4
THE PROCESS FOR FILLING VACANCIES ON THE CABARRUS COUNTY BOARD 5
OF COMMISSIONERS. 6
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 7
SECTION 1.(a) Section 2.3 of the Charter of the City of Concord, being Section 1 8
of Chapter 861 of the 1985 Session Laws, as amended by City Ordinance No. 96-105, adopted 9
on November 14, 1996, reads as rewritten: 10
"Sec. 2.3. City Council; composition; terms of office. The City Council shall be composed 11
of seven members, each of whom shall be elected by and from the qualified voters of the city for 12
staggered terms of four years each in the manner provided by Article III of this Charter, provided 13
they shall serve until their successors are elected and qualified." 14
SECTION 1.(b) Section 3.1 of the Charter of the City of Concord, being Section 1 15
of Chapter 861 of the 1985 Session Laws, as amended by Ordinance No. 1995-02-09, adopted 16
on February 9, 1995, and Ordinance No. 96-105, adopted on November 14, 1996, reads as 17
rewritten: 18
"Sec. 3.1. Regular municipal elections; conduct and method of election. Pursuant to G.S. 19
160A-101, the Charter of the City of Concord, as set forth in Chapter 861 of the 1985 Session 20
Laws of North Carolina, as amended, is hereby further amended to implement nonpartisan 21
plurality for elections (G.S. 163-292) of the City Council.Regular municipal elections in the City 22
of Concord shall be held in the odd-numbered years and shall be conducted in accordance with 23
the uniform municipal election laws of North Carolina. The Mayor and the City Council shall be 24
elected on a partisan basis, as provided in G.S. 163-291." 25
SECTION 1.(c) This section shall not affect the filling of a vacancy that occurs for 26
the city officers of the City of Concord for a seat elected prior to the effective date of this section. 27
SECTION 1.(d) The question of changing the method of election shall be submitted 28
to the qualified voters of the City of Concord at the municipal general election to be held on 29
November 3, 2025, which election shall be conducted in accordance with the laws governing 30
elections at that time. The question to be used in the voting systems and ballots shall be: 31
"[ ] FOR [ ] AGAINST 32
Changing the method of election for the city officers of the City of Concord from 33
nonpartisan to partisan to officially disclose political affiliation of partisan candidates on the 34
ballot." 35

General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 271-Second Edition
SECTION 1.(e) The Cabarrus County Board of Elections shall certify the results of 1
the referendum conducted under subsection (d) of this section. If the certification from the 2
Cabarrus County Board of Elections reflects that a majority of votes cast on the question are in 3
favor of the referendum set out in subsection (d) of this section, subsections (a) through (c) of 4
this section become effective at the first regular meeting of the Concord City Council in 5
December 2027, and elections in 2027 and thereafter shall be conducted accordingly. 6
SECTION 2.(a) Section 4.1 of the Charter of the Town of Harrisburg, being Section 7
4 of Chapter 111 of the 1973 Session Laws, as amended by Town Ordinance adopted on July 13, 8
2015, reads as rewritten: 9
"Sec. 4.1. Regular Municipal Elections. Regular municipal elections shall be held on the 10
Tuesday after the first Monday in November of each in odd-numbered year, beginning in 1973. 11
Council members hall be elected on a nonpartisan basis and the results determined by plurality, 12
as approved in the North Carolina General Statutes.years. Town officers shall be elected on a 13
partisan basis, as provided in G.S. 163-291." 14
SECTION 2.(b) This section shall not affect the filling of a vacancy that occurs for 15
the town officers of the Town of Harrisburg for a seat elected prior to the effective date of this 16
section. 17
SECTION 2.(c) The question of changing the method of election shall be submitted 18
to the qualified voters of the Town of Harrisburg at the municipal general election to be held on 19
November 3, 2025, which election shall be conducted in accordance with the laws governing 20
elections at that time. The question to be used in the voting systems and ballots shall be: 21
"[ ] FOR [ ] AGAINST 22
Changing the method of election for the town officers of the Town of Harrisburg from 23
nonpartisan to partisan to officially disclose political affiliation of partisan candidates on the 24
ballot." 25
SECTION 2.(d) The Cabarrus County Board of Elections shall certify the results of 2