GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1991

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 1073

Short Title:  Clarify Ballot Instructions.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Representative Gamble.
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Referred to:  Courts, Justice, Constitutional Amendments and Referenda.
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April 23, 1991

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO CLARIFY THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR SPLITTING TICKETS IN MULTISEAT RACES, TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT IF THE VOTER MARKS A STRAIGHT TICKET AND THEN MARKS CANDIDATES OF THE OTHER PARTY, THE BALLOT WILL NOT BE COUNTED FOR ANY CANDIDATES FOR THAT OFFICE OF THE PARTY WHOSE CIRCLE WAS MARKED UNLESS THOSE CANDIDATES ARE VOTED FOR INDIVIDUALLY AS WELL.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 163-140(b)(4) reads as rewritten:
"(4)	State Ballot: Beneath the title and general instructions set out in this subsection, the ballot for single-seat contests for State officers, and for all State officers where mechanical voting machines are used (including judges of the superior court) shall be divided into parallel columns separated by distinct black lines.  The State Board of Elections shall assign a separate column to each political party having candidates for State offices and one to unaffiliated candidates, if any.  At the head of each party column the party's name shall be printed in large type, and at the head of the column for unaffiliated candidates shall be printed in large type the words 'Unaffiliated Candidates.'  Below the party name in each column shall be printed a circle, one-half inch in diameter, around which shall be plainly printed the following instruction: 'For a straight ticket, mark within this circle.'  With distinct black lines, the State Board of Elections shall divide the columns into horizontal sections and, in the customary order of office, assign a separate section to each office or group of offices to be filled.  On a single line at the top of each section shall be printed a direction as to the number of candidates for whom a vote may be cast.  If candidates are to be chosen for different terms to the same office, the term in each instance shall be printed as part of the title of the office.
		The name or names of each political party's candidate or candidates for each office listed on the ballot shall be printed in the appropriate office section of the proper party column, and the names of unaffiliated candidates shall be printed in the appropriate office section of the column headed 'Unaffiliated Candidates.'  At the left of each name shall be printed a voting square, and in each column all voting squares shall be arranged in a perpendicular line.
		On the face of the ballot, above the party and unaffiliated column division, the following instructions shall be printed in heavy black type, and the words 'you must also' in instruction b. shall be underlined:
'a. 	To vote for all candidates of one party (a straight ticket), make a cross (X) mark in the circle of the party for whose candidates you wish to vote.
b.	You may vote a split ticket by marking a cross (X) mark in the party circle and then making a cross (X) mark in the square opposite the name of the candidate(s) you choose of a different party.  In any multi-seat race where a party circle is marked and you vote for candidates of another party, you must also make a cross (X) mark opposite the name of those candidate(s) you choose of the party for which you marked the party circle to assure your vote will count.
c. 	You may also vote a split ticket by not marking a cross (X) mark in the party circle, but by making a cross (X) mark in the square opposite the name of each candidate for whom you wish to vote.
d. 	If you tear or deface or wrongly mark this ballot, return it and get another.'
		On the bottom of the ballot shall be printed an identified facsimile of the signature of the Chairman of the State Board of Elections.  If the State ballot contains no multi-seat race, then the second sentence of instruction b. shall not appear on the ballot."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 163-140(b)(5) reads as rewritten:
"(5)	County Ballot: Beneath the title and general instructions set out in this subsection, the ballot for single-seat contests for county officers (including district attorney for the prosecutorial district in which the county is situated, district judge for the district court district in which the county is situated, and members of the General Assembly in the senatorial and representative districts in which the county is situated), and for all county offices where mechanical voting machines are used, shall be divided into parallel columns separated by distinct black lines. The county board of elections shall assign a separate column to each political party having candidates for the offices on the ballot and one to unaffiliated candidates, if any. At the head of each party column the party's name shall be printed in large type and at the head of the column for unaffiliated candidates shall be printed in large type the words 'Unaffiliated Candidates.' Below the party name in each column shall be printed a circle, one-half inch in diameter, around which shall be plainly printed the following instruction: 'For a straight ticket, mark within this circle.' With distinct black lines, the county board of elections shall divide the columns into horizontal sections and, in the customary order of office, assign a separate section to each office or group of offices to be filled. On a single line at the top of each section shall be printed the title of the office, and directly below the title shall be printed a direction as to the number of candidates for whom a vote may be cast. If candidates are to be chosen for different terms to the same office, the term in each instance shall be printed as part of the title of the office.
		The name or names of each political party's candidate or candidates for each office listed on the ballot shall be printed in the appropriate office section of the proper party column, and the names of unaffiliated candidates shall be printed in the appropriate office section of the column headed 'Unaffiliated Candidates.' At the left of each name shall be printed a voting square, and in each column all voting squares shall be arranged in a perpendicular line.
		On the face of the ballot, above the party and unaffiliated column division, the following instructions shall be printed in heavy black type, and the words 'you must also' in instruction b. shall be underlined:
'a. 	To vote for all candidates of one party (a straight ticket), make a cross (X) mark in the circle of the party for whose candidates you wish to vote.
b.	You may vote a split ticket by marking a cross (X) mark in the party circle and then making a cross (X) mark in the square opposite the name of the candidate(s) you choose of a different party.  In any multi-seat race where a party circle is marked and you vote for candidates of another party, you must also make a cross (X) mark opposite the name of those candidate(s) you choose of the party for which you marked the party circle to assure your vote will count.
c. 	You may also vote a split ticket by not marking a cross (X) mark in the party circle, but by making a cross (X) mark in the square opposite the name of each candidate for whom you wish to vote.
d. 	If you tear or deface or wrongly mark this ballot, return it and get another.'
		On the bottom of the ballot shall be printed an identified facsimile of the signature of the chairman of the county board of elections.  If the county ballot contains no multi-seat race, then the second sentence of instruction b. shall not appear on the ballot."
Sec. 3.  G.S. 163-140(f) reads as rewritten:
"(f)	Multi-seat Races. – The General Assembly finds that since the federal court opinion voiding the law which provided that a straight-ticket ballot shall take precedence in counting over a ballot marked for individual candidates, confusion has occurred in the counting of ballots in multi-seat races.  In order to minimize the confusion of instructions for marking ballots in multi-seat races, which must be different than those in single-seat races, the General Assembly finds it necessary that these ballots be printed separately, except in the case of mechanical voting machines.  On such machines, where it is physically impossible to vote both a straight-ticket and for an individual candidate, without pulling up the lever of an individual candidate, clearly showing the voter's intention, it is unnecessary to have a separate ballot for multi-seat races, and having such a separate ballot would result in more columns and rows on the machine than the mechanical machine can handle.
Multi-seat races in partisan general elections, which except as provided in this section would have appeared on the State ballot or county ballot, and except for multi-seat races on mechanical voting machines, shall be placed on a separate multi-seat ballot or ballots, which shall not be combined with any ballot other than a multi-seat ballot.  Beneath the title and general instructions set out in this subsection, the ballot(s)	for multi-seat races shall be divided into parallel columns separated by distinct black lines.  The State Board of Elections shall assign a separate column to each political party having candidates in multi-seat races and one to unaffiliated candidates, if any.  At the head of each party column the party's name shall be printed in large type, and at the head of the column for unaffiliated candidates shall be printed in large type the words 'Unaffiliated Candidates.'  Below the party name in each column shall be printed a circle, one-half inch in diameter, and around which shall be plainly printed the following instruction:  'For a straight ticket, mark within this circle.'  With distinct black lines, the State Board of Elections shall divide the columns into horizontal sections and, in the customary order of office, assign a separate section to each group of offices to be filled.  On a single line at the top of each section shall be printed a direction as to the number of candidates for whom a vote may be cast.  If candidates are to be chosen for different terms to the same office, the term in each instance shall be printed as part of the title of the office.
The name or names of each political party's candidate or candidates for each office listed on the ballot shall be printed in the appropriate office section of the proper party column and the names of unaffiliated candidates shall be printed in the appropriate office section of the column headed 'Unaffiliated Candidates.'  At the left of each name shall be printed a voting square, and in each column all voting squares shall be arranged in a perpendicular line.
On the face of the ballot, above the party and unaffiliated column division, the following instructions shall be printed in heavy red type to contrast with the type of the rest of the ballot:
'a.	To vote for all candidates of one party (a straight ticket), make a cross (X) mark in the circle of the party of your choice.
b.	You may vote a split ticket in one of two ways:
(1) 	By making a cross mark opposite the name of each candidate for whom you wish to vote and making no mark in the party circle, or
(2) 	By marking the party circle and then making a cross mark opposite the name of each candidate you choose of the party whose circle you marked as well as each candidate you choose of any other party in the race(s) where you wish to vote a split ticket.
c.	If you tear or deface or wrongly mark this ballot, return it and get another.'
Ballot instructions need not be printed in red type except on the separate ballot(s)	for multi-seat races."
Sec. 4.  This act is effective upon ratification.