A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to provide that regular municipal elections in the city of jacksonville shall be held in even‑numbered years.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Article II of the Charter of the City of Jacksonville, being Chapter 911 of the 1967 Session Laws, as amended by Town Ordinance No. 89‑21 adopted on April 26, 1989, and Ordinance No. 06‑59 adopted on November 21, 2006, reads as rewritten:
"Sec. 2‑1. Composition. The officers of the city shall consist of a mayor and six councilmembers to be elected as set out in section 2‑8 by the qualified voters of the city.
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"Sec. 2‑8. Election of Mayor and Council – Generally. At a regular election held at the time of the general election in even‑numbered years, there shall be elected a mayor and six councilmembers to serve staggered four‑year terms. Two of the councilmembers shall run at large and four of the councilmembers shall be elected from the wards established by the city. One councilmember shall be elected from each ward. Only qualified voters residing in that ward may vote for the councilmember from that ward. Each candidate for a ward seat shall reside in the ward in which the candidate seeks election.

City officers shall be elected on a nonpartisan basis and results determined by the plurality method as provided in G.S. 163‑292. Except as otherwise provided by this act, the election shall be conducted in accordance with the uniform election laws in Chapter 163 of the General Statutes.
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SECTION 2.  Article VIII of the Charter of the City of Jacksonville, being Chapter 911 of the 1967 Session Laws, is repealed.
SECTION 3.  No municipal elections shall be conducted in the City of Jacksonville in 2025. The terms of office for the two at‑large councilmembers and the councilmembers for Ward 1 and Ward 2 serving on the effective date of this act whose terms are set to expire in 2025 shall be extended by one year. The terms of office for the mayor and councilmembers for Ward 3 and Ward 4 serving on the effective date of this act whose terms are set to expire in 2027 shall be extended by one year. Regular municipal elections shall be conducted in the City of Jacksonville in even‑numbered years beginning in 2026.
SECTION 4.  In 2026, and quadrennially thereafter, two at‑large members, a member for Ward 1, and a member for Ward 2 shall be elected to each serve a four‑year term. In 2028, and quadrennially thereafter, a mayor, a member for Ward 3, and a member for Ward 4 shall be elected to each serve a four‑year term.
SECTION 5.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2026, and elections shall be conducted accordingly.