GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1993

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 563

Short Title:  Precinct Boundary Cleanup.	(Public)
─────────────────────────────────────── 
Sponsors: Representative Fitch.
─────────────────────────────────────── 
Referred to:  Judiciary I.
─────────────────────────────────────── 

March 25, 1993

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO MAKE TECHNICAL CHANGES IN STATUTES CONCERNING PRECINCT AND TOWNSHIP BOUNDARIES.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 163-128 reads as rewritten:
"§ 163-128.  Election precincts and voting places established or altered.
(a)	Each county shall be divided into a convenient number of precincts for the purpose of voting.  Except as provided in G.S. 163-132.2(a)(1), the polling place for a precinct shall be located within the precinct.
Except as provided by Article 12A of this Chapter, the county board of elections shall have power from time to time, by resolution, to establish, alter, discontinue, or create such new election precincts or voting places as it may deem expedient.  Upon adoption of a resolution establishing, altering, discontinuing, or creating a precinct or voting place, the board shall give 20 days' notice thereof prior to the date on which the registration books or records next close pursuant to G.S. 163-67. Notice shall be given by advertisement in a newspaper having general circulation in the county, by posting a copy of the resolution at the courthouse door, and by mailing a copy of the resolution to the chairman of every political party in the county.  Notice may additionally be made on a radio or television station or both, but such notice shall be in addition to the newspaper and other required notice.
(b)	Each county board of elections shall prepare a map of the county on which the precinct boundaries are drawn or described, shall revise the map when boundaries are changed, and shall keep a copy of the current map on file and posted for public inspection at the office of the Board of Elections, and shall file a copy with the State Board of Elections."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 163-132.5C reads as rewritten:
"§ 163-132.5C.  Local acts and township lines.
(a)	Notwithstanding the provisions of any local act, a county board of elections need not have the approval of any other county board or commission to make precinct boundary changes required by this Article.
(b)	Precinct boundaries may cross township lines."
Sec. 3.  G.S. 153A-19(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c)	The county manager or, where there is no county manager, the chairman of the board of commissioners, shall report township boundaries and changes in those boundaries to the United States Bureau of the Census in the Boundary and Annexations Survey.  In responding to the surveys, each county manager or, if there is no manager, chairman of the board of commissioners shall consult with the county board of elections and other appropriate local agencies as to the location of township boundaries."
Sec. 4.  G.S. 163-132.2 reads as rewritten:
"§ 163-132.2.  Precinct boundaries for other counties.
(a)	The Legislative Services Office shall send as directed by the schedule contained in subsection (g) of this section the relevant copies of the United States Census Bureau's official census block maps of the 1990 United States Census to each county board of elections.  Not later than 90 days after receiving copies of those maps, the county board of elections shall:
(1)	Alter, where necessary, precinct boundaries to be coterminous with those of:
a.	Townships, as certified by the county manager, or the chairman of the board of county commissioners if there is not a county manager, on the official map of the county;
b.	The census blocks established under the latest United States Census;
c.	Named roads and streets and drainage features of 40 feet or more in width, as certified by the North Carolina Department of Transportation on its highway maps or the planning department of the relevant county;
d.	Municipalities, as certified by the city clerk on the official map of the city; or
e.	A combination of these boundaries;
	Provided that if, as a result of the alteration, the polling place is no longer in the precinct, it may continue to be the polling place as long as the lot or tract on which the polling place is situated adjoins the precinct;
(1a)	Alter, where necessary, precinct boundaries so that each precinct is composed solely of contiguous territory;
(2)	Mark all precinct boundaries on the maps sent by the Legislative Services Office, showing the precinct boundaries in effect as of the time of marking, but with any changes effective at a later time as provided by subsection (d) of this section; and
(3)	File at a time deemed necessary by the Executive Secretary-Director of the State Board of Elections with the State Board and the Legislative Services Office the maps identifying the precinct boundaries.  The Executive Secretary-Director may require a county board of elections to file a written description of the boundaries of any precinct or part thereof.
(b)	The Executive Secretary-Director of the State Board of Elections and the Legislative Services Office shall examine the returned maps and their written descriptions.  After its examination of the maps and their written descriptions, the Legislative Services Office shall submit to the Executive Secretary-Director of the State Board of Elections its opinion as to whether the county board of elections has complied with the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, with notations as to where those boundaries do not comply with these standards.  If the Executive Secretary-Director of the State Board determines that the county board of elections has complied with the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the Executive Secretary-Director of the State Board shall approve the maps and written descriptions as filed and these precincts shall be the official precincts.
(c)	If the Executive Secretary-Director of the State Board determines that the county board of elections has not complied with the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, he shall not approve those precinct boundaries but shall alter the precinct boundaries so that each precinct consists solely of contiguous territory and that each precinct's boundaries are coterminous with those boundaries set forth in subsection (a)(1) of this section nearest to those existing precinct boundaries. These altered precincts shall then be the official precincts.
(d)	The changes in precinct boundaries under subsections (b) and (c) of this section shall be made effective not later than January 1, 1997; unless the change would result in placing a precinct in more than one State House of Representatives, State Senate, or Congressional district, in which case it shall be made effective not later than January 1, 2002.
(e), (f)	Repealed by Session Laws 1991 (Regular Session, 1992), c. 927, s. 1, effective July 1, 1992.
(g)	The Legislative Services Office shall send maps, under subsection (a) of this section, to the counties named below by the dates indicated:
(1)	Maps to be sent not later than January 1, 1993, to the following counties: Alexander, Alleghany, Anson, Ashe, Avery, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Caswell, Currituck, Cherokee, Clay, Franklin, Gates, and Hoke;
(2)	Maps to be sent not later than January 1, 1994, to the following counties: Columbus, Dare, Davie, Graham, Greene, Haywood, Hertford, Hyde, Jackson, Lee, Lincoln, Madison, Martin, Mitchell, Montgomery, Northampton, and Pasquotank; and
(3)	Maps to be sent not later than January 1, 1995, to the following counties: Macon, McDowell, Moore, Pamlico, Perquimans, Person, Polk, Rutherford, Stanly, Stokes, Swain, Transylvania, Tyrrell, Vance, Warren, Watauga, and Yadkin.
(h)	This section shall apply only to the following counties: Alexander, Alleghany, Anson, Ashe, Avery, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Caswell, Cherokee, Clay, Columbus, Currituck, Dare, Davie, Franklin, Gates, Graham, Greene, Haywood, Hertford, Hoke, Hyde, Jackson, Lee, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, Martin, McDowell, Mitchell, Montgomery, Moore, Northampton, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Person, Polk, Rutherford, Stanly, Stokes, Swain, Transylvania, Tyrrell, Vance, Warren, Watauga, and Yadkin."
Sec. 5. This act is effective upon ratification.