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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 M UNICIPALITY WHOLLY 2
LOCATED WITHIN CABAR RUS COUNTY ON WHETHE R TO CHANGE THE 3
METHOD OF ELECTION FROM NONPARTISAN TO P ARTISAN; AND TO MODI FY 4
THE PROCESS FOR FILL ING 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 La ws, 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 questi on 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 26
the referendum conducted under sub section (c) of this section. If the certification from the 27
Cabarrus County Board of Elections reflects that a majority of votes cast on the question are in 28
favor of the referendum set out in subsection (c) of this section, subsections (a) and (b) of this 29
section become effective at the first regular meeting of the Harrisburg Town Council in 30
December 2027, and elections in 2027 and thereafter shall be conducted accordingly. 31
SECTION 3.(a) Section 4.1 of the Charter of the Town of Midland, being Section 1 32
of S.L. 2000-91, reads as rewritten: 33
"Section 4.1. Conduct of Town Elections. Regular municipal elections shall be held in each 34
odd-numbered year in accordance with the uniform municipal election laws of North Carolina. 35
Elections shall be conducted on a nonpartisan basis and results determined by a plurality as 36
provided in G.S. 163-292.partisan basis, as provided in G.S. 163-291." 37
SECTION 3.(b) This section shall not affect the filling of a vacancy that occurs for 38
the town officers of the Town of Midland for a seat elected prior to the effective date of this 39
section. 40
SECTION 3.(c) The question of changing the method of election shall be submitted 41
to the qualified voters of the Town of Midland at the municipal general election to be held on 42
November 3, 202 5, which election shall be conducted in accordance with the laws governing 43
elections at that time. The question to be used in the voting systems and ballots shall be: 44
"[ ] FOR [ ] AGAINST 45
Changing the method of election for the town officers of the Town of Midland from 46
nonpartisan to partisan to officially disclose political affiliation of partisan candidates on the 47
ballot." 48
SECTION 3.(d) The Cabarrus County Board of Elections shall certify the results of 49
the referendum conducted under subsection (c) of this section. If the certification from the 50
Cabarrus County Board of Elections reflects that a majority of votes cast on the question are in 51
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
House Bill 271-Second Edition Page 3
favor of the referendum set out in subsection (c) of this section, subsections (a) and (b) of this 1
section become effective at the first regular meeting of the Midland Town Council in December 2
2027, and elections in 2027 and thereafter shall be conducted accordingly. 3
SECTION 4.(a) Section 3.2 of the Charter of the Town of Mount Pleasant, being 4
Chapter 77 of the Private Laws of 1883, as amended by Town Ordinance adopted on February 5
11, 2019, reads as rewritten: 6
"Section 3.2. Manner of Election; Term of Office 7
The qualified voters of the entire Town shall elect the Mayor and members of the Town Board 8
of Commissioners that shall serve staggered four (4) year terms. Nonpartisan plurality Regular 9
municipal elections shall take place every two years, be held in odd-numbered years, with three 10
commissioners being elected during one election cycle, and two commissioners and the Mayor 11
during the next election cycle, and so on. Absentee ballots are permitted pursuant to Board of 12
Elections requirements. The present Mayor, Commissioners and other officers of Mount Pleasant 13
shall hold said offices with all the powers, privileges, rights and responsibilities which this charter 14
and the former charter conferred until their successors are elected or appointed and 15
qualified.years and shall be conducted in accordance with the uniform municipal election laws 16
of North Carol ina. The Town officers shall be elected on a partisan basis , as provided in 17
G.S. 163-291." 18
SECTION 4.(b) This section shall not affect the filling of a vacancy that occurs for 19
the town officers of the Town of Mount Pleasant for a seat elected prior to the effective date of 20
this section. 21
SECTION 4.(c) The question of changing the method of election shall be submitted 22
to the qualified voters of the Town of Mount Pleasant at the municipal general election to be held 23
on November 3, 2025, which election shall be conducted in accordance with the laws governing 24
elections at that time. The question to be used in the voting systems and ballots shall be: 25
"[ ] FOR [ ] AGAINST 26
Changing the method of election for the town officers of the Town of Mount Pleasant 27
from nonpartisan to partisan to officially disclose po litical affiliation of partisan candidates on 28
the ballot." 29
SECTION 4.(d) The Cabarrus County Board of Elections shall certify the results of 30
the referendum conducted under subsection (c) of this section. If the certification from the 31
Cabarrus County Board of Elections reflects that a majority of votes cast on the question are in 32
favor of the referendum set out in subsection (c) of this section, subsections (a) and (b) of this 33
section become effective at the first regular meeting of the Mount Pleasant Town Council in 34
December 2027, and elections in 2027 and thereafter shall be conducted accordingly. 35
SECTION 5.(a) G.S. 153A-27.1(h), as amended by S.L. 2025-3, reads as rewritten: 36
"(h) This section shall apply only in the following counties: Alamance, Alexande r, 37
Alleghany, Avery, Beaufort, Brunswick, Buncombe, Caldwell, Carteret, Cabarrus, Caswell, 38
Cherokee, Clay, Cleveland, Cumberland, Dare, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Graham, Guilford, 39
Harnett, Haywood, Henderson, Hyde, Jackson, Lee, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, Mc Dowell, 40
Mecklenburg, Moore, Onslow, Pender, Polk, Randolph, Rockingham, Rutherford, Sampson, 41
Stanly, Stokes, Transylvania, and Yancey." 42
SECTION 5.(b) This section is effective when it becomes law and applies to 43
vacancies filled on or after that date. 44
SECTION 6. Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes law 45
and applies to elections held on or after that date. 46