A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to require that all municipal elections be held in even‑numbered years.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 163‑279 reads as rewritten:
"§ 163‑279.  Time of municipal primaries and elections.
(a)	Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, primaries and elections for offices filled by election of the people in cities, towns, incorporated villages, and special districts shall be held in even‑numbered years beginning in 2022 and every two or four years thereafter on the following days:
(1)	If the election is nonpartisan and decided by simple plurality, the election shall be held on Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
(2)	If the election is partisan, the election shall be held on Tuesday after the first Monday in November, the first primary shall be held on the second Tuesday after Labor Day, and the second primary, if required, shall be held on the fourth Tuesday before the election.
(3)	If the election is nonpartisan and the nonpartisan primary method of election is used, the election shall be held on Tuesday after the first Monday in November and the nonpartisan primary shall be held on the fourth Tuesday before the election.
(4)	If the election is nonpartisan and the election and runoff election method of election is used, the election shall be held on the fourth Tuesday before the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, and the runoff election, if required, shall be held on Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
(b)	Repealed by Session Laws 2011‑141, s. 1(a), effective July 1, 2011.
(c)	Officers of sanitary districts elected in 1970 shall hold office until the first Monday in December, 1973, notwithstanding G.S. 130‑126. Beginning in 2022, sanitary district elections shall be held at the times provided in this section or in G.S. 130A‑50(b1)."
SECTION 2.  This act shall have the effect of repealing provisions of local or special acts requiring a municipal election to be conducted in an odd‑numbered year.
SECTION 3.  In order to maintain staggered terms, for municipalities that currently hold municipal elections in odd‑numbered years, the following shall apply:
(1)	For municipalities in which officials are elected every two years, those officials whose terms would expire in 2021 shall continue to serve until 2022. In 2022, and biennially thereafter, those officials' successors shall be elected to serve terms of two years.
(2)	For municipalities in which officials are elected every four years:
a.	Those officials elected in 2017 shall serve three‑year terms until 2020. In 2020, and quadrennially thereafter, those officials' successors shall be elected to serve terms of four years.
b.	Those officials elected in 2019 shall serve three‑year terms until 2022. In 2022, and quadrennially thereafter, those officials' successors shall be elected to serve terms of four years.
SECTION 4.  This act is effective when it becomes law.