A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to allow residents of areas in the extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction of a municipality to vote in elections for municipal officers.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 160A‑360(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	All of the powers granted by this Article may be exercised by any city within its corporate limits. In addition, any city may exercise these powers within a defined area extending not more than one mile beyond its limits. With the approval of the board or boards of county commissioners with jurisdiction over the area, a city of 10,000 or more population but less than 25,000 may exercise these powers over an area extending not more than two miles beyond its limits and a city of 25,000 or more population may exercise these powers over an area extending not more than three miles beyond its limits. The boundaries of the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction shall be the same for all powers conferred in this Article. No city may exercise extraterritorially any power conferred by this Article that it is not exercising within its corporate limits. Qualified voters residing within the defined area in which a city is exercising extraterritorially any power conferred by this Article may vote for elective officers of the city. If the governing board is elected by districts, the governing board shall allocate those voters to districts. In determining the population of a city for the purposes of this Article, the city council and the board of county commissioners may use the most recent annual estimate of population as certified by the Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Administration."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 163‑282 reads as rewritten:
"§ 163‑282.  Residency defined for voting in municipal elections.
The rules for determining residency within a municipality shall be the same as prescribed in G.S. 163‑57 for determining county residency. For purposes of eligibility to vote in elections for officers of a municipality as authorized in G.S. 160A‑360(a), any person who is a resident of an area over which the municipality exercises extraterritorial jurisdiction under G.S. 160A‑360 or by local act is a resident of the municipality. A person whose residency is based upon the person's residing in an extraterritorial area is eligible to vote only in elections for officers of the city and not for other types of elections. However, if an area is annexed by a municipality, residents in that area may thereafter vote in all municipal elections if they are otherwise registered, qualified, and eligible. No person shall be entitled to reside in more than one city or town at the same time."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 163‑288.1(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Whenever any new city or special district is incorporated or whenever an existing city or district annexes any territory or exercises extraterritorial planning jurisdiction under G.S. 160A‑360 or by local act, the city or special district shall cause a map of the corporate or district limits or extraterritorial area to be prepared from the boundary descriptions in the act, charter or other document creating the city or district or authorizing or implementing the annexation or providing for extraterritorial jurisdiction. The map shall be delivered to the county or municipal board of elections conducting the elections for the city or special district. The board of elections shall then activate for city or district elections each voter eligible to vote in the city or district who is registered to vote in the county to the extent that residence addresses shown on the county registration certificates can be identified as within the limits of the city or special district or within the extraterritorial area. Each voter whose registration is thus activated for city or special district elections shall be so notified by mail. The cost of preparing the map of the newly incorporated city or special district or of the newly annexed area, or the extraterritorial area, and of activating voters eligible to vote therein, shall be paid by the city or special district. In lieu of the procedures set forth in this section, the county board of elections may use either of the methods of registration of voters set out in G.S. 163‑288.2 when activating voters pursuant to the incorporation of a new city or election of city officials or both under authority of an act of the General Assembly or when activating voters after an annexation of new territory by a city or special district under Article 4A of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes or other general or local  law or residing within an extraterritorial area."
SECTION 4.  G.S. 163‑288.2 reads as rewritten:
"§ 163‑288.2.  Registration in area proposed for incorporation or annexed.
(a)	Whenever the General Assembly incorporates a new city and provides in the act of incorporation for a referendum on the question of incorporation or for a special election for town officials or for both, or whenever an existing city or special district annexes new territory under the provisions of Article 4A of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes or other general or local law, or there is extraterritorial planning jurisdiction under G.S. 160A‑360 or by local act, the board of elections of the county in which the proposed city is located or in which the newly annexed territory or the extraterritorial area is located shall determine those individuals eligible to vote in the referendum or special election or in the city or special district elections. In determining the eligible voters the board may, in its discretion, use either of the following methods:
METHOD A. – The board of elections shall prepare a list of those registered voters residing within the proposed city or newly annexed territory or the extraterritorial area. The board shall make this list available for public inspection in its office for a two‑week period ending on the twenty‑fifth day before the day of the referendum or special election, or the next scheduled city or special district election. During this period, any voter resident within the proposed city or newly annexed territory or the extraterritorial area and not included on the list may cause his name to be added to the list. At least one week and no more than two weeks before the day the period of public inspection is to begin, the board shall cause notice of the list's availability to be posted in at least two prominent places within the proposed city or newly annexed territory or the extraterritorial area and may cause the notice to be published in a newspaper of general circulation within the county. The notice shall state that the list has been prepared, that only those persons listed may vote in the referendum or special election, that the list will be available for public inspection in the board's office, that any qualified voter not included on the list may cause his name to be added to the list during the two‑week period of public inspection, and that persons in newly annexed territory or the extraterritorial area should present themselves so their registration records may be activated for voting in city or special district elections in the newly annexed territory or extraterritorial area. 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.
METHOD B. – The board of elections shall conduct a special registration of eligible persons desiring to vote in the referendum or special election or in the newly annexed  territory or the extraterritorial area. The registration records shall be open for a two‑week period (except Sundays) ending on the twenty‑fifth day before the day of the referendum or special election or the next scheduled city or special district election. On the two Saturdays during that two‑week period, the records shall be located at the voting place for the referendum or special election or the next scheduled city or special district election; on the other days it may, in the discretion of the board, be kept at the voting place, at the office of the board, or at the place of business of a person designated by the board to conduct the special registration. At least one week and no more than two weeks before the day the period of special registration is to begin, the board shall cause notice of the registration to be posted in at least two prominent places within the proposed city or newly annexed territory or the extraterritorial area and may cause the notice to be published in a newspaper of general circulation within the county. The notice shall state the purpose and times of the special registration, the location of the registration records, that only those persons registered in the special registration may vote in the referendum or special election, and that persons in the newly annexed territory or the extraterritorial area should present themselves so their registration records may be activated for voting in city or special district elections in the newly annexed territory or the extraterritorial area. 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)	Only those persons registered pursuant to this section may vote in the referendum or special election, provided, however, that in cases where voters are activated under either Method A or B to vote in a city or special district that annexes territory, the city or special district shall permit them to vote in the city or special district's election and shall, as well, permit other voters to vote in such elections who did not register under the provisions of this section if they are otherwise registered, qualified and eligible to vote in the same."
SECTION 5.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to elections occurring on or after September 1, 2007.