A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to change the method of election of the mayor and city council members of the city of high point to hold the ELECTIONS in odd‑numbered years and by a nonpartisan primary and election method as provided by general law.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Section 3.1 of the Charter of the City of High Point, being Chapter 501 of the 1979 Session Laws, as amended by Ordinance Number 86‑7 under Part 4 of Article 5 of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes and Section 2(a) of S.L. 2006‑171, reads as rewritten:
"Sec. 3.1. Method of election. Beginning with the 2017 election, regular municipal elections shall be held in the City biennially in odd‑numbered years, and shall be conducted in accordance with State law governing municipal elections. The mayor and members of the council shall be elected by the nonpartisan primary and election method provided for in G.S. 163‑294."
SECTION 2.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the 2014 election, the terms of the mayor and council members elected shall be for three years.
SECTION 3.  If, on the date this act becomes law, the changes affecting voting required by Section 1 of this act are subject to preclearance under section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the municipal attorney for the City of High Point shall submit the date of the election under this act to the Attorney General of the United States within 30 days of this act becoming law, as provided by G.S. 120‑30.9F. If it is not so submitted, the Attorney General of North Carolina shall submit it under G.S. 120‑30.9I.
SECTION 4.  Sections 1 and 2 of this act become effective only if approved by a majority of the qualified voters of the City of High Point in a referendum, and upon preclearance by the Attorney General of the United States if required under section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The election shall be conducted by the appropriate county board(s) of elections in the November 2014 general election. The question on the ballot shall be:
"[ ] FOR	[ ] AGAINST
Beginning in the 2017 election and every two years thereafter, electing the mayor and the city council members by using the nonpartisan primary and election method pursuant to State law, and the mayor and city council members elected at the 2014 election serving a three‑year term to expire in 2017."
SECTION 5.  Except as otherwise provided in this act, this act is effective when it becomes law.