GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2021

H                                                                                                                                                    1

HOUSE BILL 37

 

 

Short Title:      Establish Two At-Large Seats/W-S City Council.

(Local)

Sponsors:

Representatives Lambeth and Zachary (Primary Sponsors).

For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.

Referred to:

Election Law and Campaign Finance Reform, if favorable, Local Government, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

February 2, 2021

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT to establish two at‑large seats on the city council in the city of winston‑salem.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  Paragraph 2 of Section 12A of Chapter 232 of the Private Laws of 1927, as amended by Chapter 53 of the Session Laws of 1965, as amended by the Ordinance of January 6, 2003, and Section 1(b) of S.L. 2011‑141, reads as rewritten:

"2. Election of City Council. The time for election of city council members shall be as provided in Section 12J of this Charter. There shall be elected eight 10 council members for the City of Winston‑Salem, who shall hold their office until their successors are qualified, of whom one shall be elected from North Ward, one from Northeast Ward, one from East Ward, One from Southeast Ward, one from South Ward, one from Southeast Ward, one from West Ward, and one from Northwest Ward. Ward, and two at‑large members. Each council member representing a ward shall be a resident of the ward in which elected, and shall be elected by the qualified voters of the council member's ward only. The qualified voters of the entire City of Winston‑Salem shall elect the at‑large members. Each at‑large member shall be a resident of the City of Winston‑Salem. Except as provided in Section 12J of this Charter, city council members shall serve for terms of four years commencing as provided by G.S. 160A‑68 at the organizational meeting of the city council following the election."

SECTION 2.  The two at‑large City Council members added under Section 1 of this act shall be elected during the statewide general election held in November 2024 to serve four‑year terms. The two candidates receiving the highest number of votes shall serve as at‑large members pursuant to this act.

SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.