A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO provide THE VOTERS OF BEAUFORT COUNTY A RIGHT TO PETITION FOR CHANGES TO THE STRUCTURE OF THE Beaufort County BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Part 4 of Article 4 of Chapter 153A of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 153A‑60.1.  Alteration by voter initiative.
(a)	The people may initiate a referendum on proposed alterations authorized by this Part. An initiative petition shall bear the signatures and resident addresses of a number of qualified voters of the county equal to at least fifteen percent (15%) of the whole number of voters who are registered to vote in the county according to the most recent figures certified by the State Board of Elections or 5,000, whichever is less. The petition shall, with reference to the pertinent provisions of G.S. 153A‑58, contain the precise text of the resolution necessary to implement the proposed changes. The petition may not propose changes in the alternative, or more than one integrated set of alterations. Upon receipt of a valid initiative petition, the county board of elections shall call a special election on the question of adopting the alterations proposed therein and shall give public notice of the special election in accordance with G.S. 163A‑1592. The date of the special election shall be the date of the next countywide election, whether primary, general, or special, held more than 90 days after receipt of the petition. If a majority of the votes cast in the special election are in favor of the proposed changes, the resolution is adopted. Alterations adopted under this section shall continue in force for at least two years after the beginning of the term of office of the officers elected under the new manner of election. No initiative petition may be filed (i) within one year and six months following the effective date of a resolution adopting alterations pursuant to this Part, nor (ii) within one year and six months following the date of any election on alterations that were defeated by the voters.
The restrictions imposed by this section on filing initiative petitions shall apply only to petitions concerning the same subject matter.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the submission of more than one proposition for alterations on the same ballot so long as no proposition offers a different plan under the same option as another proposition on the same ballot."
SECTION 2.  This act applies to Beaufort County only.
SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.