AN ACT to allow the town of marietta to hold municipal elections every four years.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  Section 2.3 of the Charter of the Town of Marietta, being Chapter 111 of the 1985 Session Laws, reads as rewritten:
"Sec. 2.3. Mayor; Term of Office; Duties. The Mayor shall be elected in the manner provided by Article III of this Charter to serve for a term of four years or until his successor is elected and qualified. The Mayor shall be the official head of the Town government and shall preside at all meetings of the Council. He shall have the right to vote in any and all matters before the Council. The Mayor shall exercise such powers and perform such duties as presently are or hereinafter may be conferred upon him by the General Statutes of North Carolina, by this Charter, and by the ordinances of the Town."
SECTION 2.  Article III of the Charter of the Town of Marietta, being Chapter 111 of the 1985 Session Laws, reads as rewritten:
"Article III.
"Elections.
"Sec. 3.1. Regular Municipal Elections; Conduct and Method of Election. Beginning in 2017, regular municipal elections shall be held in the Town every four years in odd‑numbered years and shall be conducted by the Robeson County Board of Elections in accordance with the uniform municipal election laws of North Carolina. At each such election, the Mayor and four members of the Council shall be elected according to the nonpartisan plurality method of election.
"Sec. 3.2. Election of Council Members. Members of the Town Council are elected to four‑year terms. The two members whose terms expire in 2017 shall be elected to serve four‑year terms at the regular municipal election in 2017. The two members whose terms expire in 2019 shall continue to serve until 2021. In 2021, and quadrennially thereafter, four members shall be elected by the voters of the Town voting at large.
"Sec. 3.3. Election of the Mayor. At the regular municipal election in 2017, and quadrennially thereafter, there shall be elected a Mayor to serve a term of four years. The Mayor shall be elected by the voters of the Town voting at large.
...."
SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 1st day of July, 2016.

	s/	 Louis M. Pate, Jr.
	 Presiding Officer of the Senate

	s/	 Tim Moore
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives