GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2021
HOUSE BILL 605
RATIFIED BILL
AN ACT TO set the date for the 2022 primary as June 7, 2022; to ALLOW THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS TO ISSUE TEMPORARY rules FOR conducting THE 2022 PRIMARIES AND ELECTIONS; and to address other matters relating to the 2022 primary.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.(a) Notwithstanding G.S. 163‑1(b) and any order of the court issued prior to January 18, 2022, the date of the 2022 primary election shall be June 7, 2022. Any elections originally scheduled to be held on the date of the primary in 2022 shall instead be held on June 7, 2022.
SECTION 1.(b) Section 1(e) of S.L. 2021‑56 reads as rewritten:
"SECTION 1.(e) Date of Election. – With respect to any elected office with an election delayed to 2022 in accordance with this act, the following dates of election shall apply:
(1) For any municipality
elected by the partisan primary and election method, the primary shall be March
8, 2022, June 7, 2022, and the general election shall be on the date
of any second primary held under G.S. 163‑111. If no second primary
is held under G.S. 163‑111, the general election shall be on April
26, 2022. July 26, 2022. No second primary shall be held for these
offices in 2022.
(2) For any municipality
elected by the nonpartisan primary and election method, the primary shall be March
8, 2022, June 7, 2022, and the general election shall be held on the
date of any second primary held under G.S. 163‑111. If no second
primary is held under G.S. 163‑111, the general election shall be on
April 26, 2022.July 26, 2022.
(3) For any municipality
elected by the nonpartisan plurality method, the date of the election shall be March
8, 2022.June 7, 2022.
(4) For any municipality
elected by the nonpartisan elections and runoff method, the election shall be March
8, 2022, June 7, 2022, and the runoff election shall be held on the
date of any second primary held under G.S. 163‑111. If no second
primary is held under G.S. 163‑111, the runoff election shall be on April
26, 2022.July 26, 2022."
SECTION 1.(c) Section 1.5(d) of S.L. 2021‑56 reads as rewritten:
"SECTION 1.5.(d) This
section becomes effective March 9, 2022, and expires on June 1, 2022.August
31, 2022."
SECTION 1.(d) The times to publish notice of a bond referendum required by G.S. 159‑61(c) shall not apply to any bond referendum held on the date of the 2022 statewide primary. The local government unit holding the bond referendum on that date shall comply with the times to publish notice of the election prescribed by the State Board of Elections pursuant to this section.
SECTION 1.(e) Except as provided in this act, in order to accommodate the scheduling of the 2022 primary, the State Board of Elections may issue temporary rules to change, modify, or amend any statute in Chapter 163 of the General Statutes or rules contained in Title 8 of the North Carolina Administrative Code that affect the timing of the 2022 primaries and general elections. These temporary rules are only effective for the 2022 primaries and 2022 general elections. The authority granted by this section shall be exercised only when needed to ensure the orderly and timely operations of the electoral process. Temporary rules issued under this section are subject to the provisions of Chapter 150B of the General Statutes and shall be published in the North Carolina Register as quickly as possible. Any temporary rules issued under this section become void 10 days after the final certification of all 2022 elections.
SECTION 2.(a) Notwithstanding Chapter 163 of the General Statutes, any local act, and S.L. 2021‑56, the filing period for all offices on the ballot in 2022 shall begin at 8:00 A.M. on March 24, 2022, and close at 5:00 P.M. on April 1, 2022.
SECTION 2.(b) Notwithstanding Article 10 of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes, any person who filed a notice of candidacy during the filing period in December 2021, and did not withdraw that notice of candidacy before that filing period was closed by order of the court, shall be deemed to have filed during the period set forth in Section 2(a) of this act. G.S. 163‑106.4 shall apply to all candidates desiring to withdraw a notice of candidacy.
SECTION 3. Notwithstanding G.S. 138A‑22 and G.S. 163‑106, for 2022 only, all covered persons and candidates filing a notice of candidacy under G.S. 163‑106 who are also required to file a statement of economic interest under Article 2 of Chapter 138A of the General Statutes shall do so on or before April 15, 2022. An individual nominated under G.S. 163‑114 shall file the statement within three days following the individual's nomination, or not later than the day preceding the general election, whichever occurs first. An individual seeking to qualify as an unaffiliated candidate under G.S. 163‑122 shall file the statement of economic interest within three days of filing the petition required under that section. An individual seeking to have write‑in votes counted for that individual in a general election shall file a statement of economic interest within three days of the time the candidate files a declaration of intent under G.S. 163‑123. A candidate of a new party chosen by convention shall file a statement of economic interest within three days of the time that the president of the convention certifies the names of its candidates to the State Board of Elections under G.S. 163‑98.
SECTION 4. This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 19th day of January, 2022.
s/ Ralph Hise
Presiding Officer of the Senate
s/ Tim Moore
Speaker of the House of Representatives
_____________________________________
Roy Cooper
Governor
Approved __________.m. this ______________ day of ___________________, 2022