A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO CREATE THE JOINT LEGISLATIVE STUDY COMMITTEE ON FAIR REDISTRICTING and to provide that absentee ballots received by a county board of elections by mail on the day after the election that are not postmarked are deemed to have been postmarked on or before election day upon verification of receipt by the county board of elections.
Whereas, North Carolina has a long history of gerrymandering voting districts in ways that weaken the political power of Black voters; and
Whereas, particularly in the South, the history of gerrymandering is inextricably linked to the deliberate division of voters by race, generally to undercut the power of Black voters and their fusion coalitions with other voters; and
Whereas, deep community involvement and understanding of the history of racism and voting rights are crucial to ending unconstitutional gerrymandering; and
Whereas, any redistricting process should abide by the protections of the Voting Rights Act and the United States and North Carolina Constitutions, laws, and applicable court precedents; and
Whereas, a strong representative democracy depends on voting districts that comply with the Voting Rights Act and the United States and North Carolina Constitutions, laws, and applicable court precedents; and
Whereas, voting districts should be very nearly equal in population, compact, without odd tentacles, and geographically contiguous; and
Whereas, all voters and communities are not fully and fairly represented in redistricting unless incarcerated people are counted as residents of their pre‑incarceration home or family residence; and
Whereas, North Carolina's unique history, geography, and demographics require the development of a unique North Carolinian solution to unlawful gerrymandering and redistricting; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.(a)  Creation of Fair Redistricting Study Committee. – There is created the Joint Legislative Study Committee on Fair Redistricting (Committee). The Committee shall consist of 14 members to be appointed as follows:
(1)	Two Representatives and one public member appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(2)	Two Senators and one public member appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.
(3)	The leader of the minority party in the House of Representatives or the leader's designee and one public member appointed by the minority party leader.
(4)	The leader of the minority party in the Senate or the leader's designee and one public member appointed by the minority party leader.
(5)	Four members of the public appointed by the Governor.
Each appointing authority shall designate one of his or her appointees to be a nonvoting member of the Committee, except the Governor shall designate two of the Governor's appointees as nonvoting. All other members of the Committee shall be voting members. The members appointed shall have experience in the redistricting process or with voting rights laws and issues. The Speaker of the House of Representatives and President Pro Tempore of the Senate shall jointly select one cochair and the leaders of the minority party in the House and the Senate shall jointly select one cochair from the eight voting Committee members. Vacancies on the Committee shall be filled by the appointing authority making the initial appointment. A majority of the voting members will constitute a quorum for the purpose of conducting official business.
SECTION 1.(b)  Purpose. – The purpose of the Joint Legislative Study Committee on Fair Redistricting is to provide principles and guidance on issues studied in subsection (c) of this section to ensure that the 2020 House, Senate, and Congressional district plans for North Carolina are drawn fairly. The work of the Committee shall ensure that districts are drawn free from unlawful racial or partisan gerrymandering in compliance with the Voting Rights Act and the United States and North Carolina Constitutions, federal and State statutes and regulations, and applicable court precedents. Furthermore, the Committee shall establish redistricting principles, recommendations and guidance for the General Assembly and, in doing so, shall consider North Carolina's long history of racism and racial gerrymandering. The Committee shall also ensure that it considers public input in the development of and in response to its final recommendations and those districts drawn by the General Assembly abide by the Voting Rights Act and the United States and North Carolina Constitutions, laws, and applicable court precedents.
SECTION 1.(c)  Study. – The Joint Legislative Study Committee on Fair Redistricting shall conduct a study of the issues outlined below, and provide the General Assembly with principles and guidance formulated from the study's findings for the 2020 redistricting process. In the conduct of its study, the Committee shall examine existing State and federal laws and precedents regarding redistricting, the history of the redistricting process in North Carolina, and the legislation enacted in other states that encourages a fair, legal, and open redistricting process. Specifically, the Committee shall study:
(1)	Strategies for inviting, facilitating, and documenting public input into the redistricting process. This shall include documenting the most effective ways, in the study process, to involve local government districts, local, State, and regional coalitions, grassroots organizations, and a broad diversity of community members and to consider "communities of interest," i.e., a group of people with common social, cultural, racial, ethnic, and economic interests that are common to and strongly felt by the population of their area and that are probable subjects of legislation.
(2)	Methods for map drawing that result in fair and equitable districts that exclude partisan data, the addresses of current lawmakers, the party affiliation or voting history of voters, and other data and micro‑targeting designed to favor a particular party or politician.
(3)	Tools used by state and federal courts to assess district maps for compliance with the Voting Rights Act and the United States and North Carolina Constitutions, laws, and applicable court precedents.
(4)	Models used by other jurisdictions for reducing partisan and racial gerrymandering that include the permanent residency of incarcerated persons in the redistricting process.
SECTION 1.(d)  Powers. – The Committee, while in the discharge of its official duties, may exercise all powers provided for under G.S. 120‑19 and G.S. 120‑19.1 through G.S. 120‑19.4. The Committee may meet at any time upon the joint call of the cochairs. The Committee may meet in the Legislative Building or in the Legislative Office Building.
SECTION 1.(e) Staffing. – The Legislative Services Commission, through the Legislative Services Officer, shall assign professional staff to assist the Committee in its work. The Directors of Legislative Assistants of the Senate and of the House of Representatives shall assign clerical staff to the Committee, and the expenses relating to the clerical employees shall be borne by the Committee. Members of the Committee shall receive subsistence and travel expenses at the rates set forth in G.S. 120‑3.1, 138‑5, or 138‑6, as appropriate.
SECTION 1.(f)  Report. – The Committee shall submit a final report, including findings and legislative recommendations and guidance, no later than June 15, 2018. If for any reason a majority of the Committee cannot agree on findings and recommendations, the Committee shall provide a majority and minority party report. The Committee shall terminate upon filing its final report or on June 15, 2018, whichever occurs earlier.
SECTION 2.  G.S. 163‑231(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	Transmitting Executed Absentee Ballots to County Board of Elections. – The sealed container‑return envelope in which executed absentee ballots have been placed shall be transmitted to the county board of elections who issued those ballots as follows:
(1)	All ballots issued under the provisions of this Article and Article 21A of this Chapter shall be transmitted by mail or by commercial courier service, at the voter's expense, or delivered in person, or by the voter's near relative or verifiable legal guardian and received by the county board not later than 5:00 p.m. on the day of the statewide primary or general election or county bond election. Ballots issued under the provisions of Article 21A of this Chapter may also be electronically transmitted.
(2)	If ballots are received later than the hour stated in subdivision (1) of this subsection, those ballots shall not be accepted unless one of the following applies:
a.	Federal law so requires.
b.	The ballots issued under this Article are (i) postmarked and that postmark is dated on or before the day of the statewide primary or general election or county bond election and are received by the county board of elections not later than three days after the election by 5:00 P.M. or (ii) if there is no postmark, are received by the county board of elections not later than one day after the election by 5:00 P.M. When a ballot is received by mail one day after the election without a postmark, the county board of elections shall verify receipt of the ballot by stamping on the ballot the date it was received.
c.	The ballots issued under Article 21A of this Chapter are received by the county board of elections not later than the end of business on the business day before the canvass conducted by the county board of elections held pursuant to G.S. 163‑182.5."
SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.