AN ACT to clarify the designations to appear on the ballot for constitutional amendments and other referenda.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.(a)  G.S. 163A‑1114(h) reads as rewritten:
"(h)	Order of Precedence for Referenda. – Without referencing a numerical order or other reference of order by category or within a category, the referendum questions to be voted on shall be arranged on the official ballot in the following order:
(1)	Proposed amendments to the North Carolina Constitution, in the chronological order in which the proposals were approved by the General Assembly. Proposed amendments shall be designated by only the phrase "Constitutional Amendment" prior to setting forth the referendum question.
(2)	Other referenda to be voted on by all voters in the State, in the chronological order in which the proposals were approved by the General Assembly.
(3)	Referenda to be voted on by fewer than all the voters in the State, in the chronological order of the acts by which the referenda were properly authorized."
SECTION 1.(b)  This section is effective when it becomes law and applies to ballots used in the 2018 general election and thereafter. No numerical order or other reference of order for referenda, by category or within a category, shall appear on the 2018 general election ballot. Any captions adopted by the Constitutional Amendments Publication Commission pursuant to G.S. 147‑54.10(a) prior to this bill becoming law are null and void and shall not appear on the ballot used in the 2018 general election.
SECTION 2.  G.S. 147‑54.10(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	At least 75 days before an election in which a proposed amendment to the Constitution, or a revised or new Constitution, is to be voted on, the Commission shall prepare an explanation of the amendment, revision, or new Constitution in simple and commonly used language."
SECTION 3.  Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 24th day of July, 2018.

	s/	 Philip E. Berger
	 President Pro Tempore of the Senate

	s/	 Tim Moore
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives

	_____________________________________
		 Roy Cooper
	 Governor

Approved __________.m. this ______________ day of ___________________, 2018