FILED SENATE
Mar 10, 2021
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
S.B. 234
SESSION 2021 PRINCIPAL CLERK
S D
SENATE BILL DRS15120-MK-60B
Short Title: Lincoln Co. Bd. of Ed./Partisan Election. (Local)
Sponsors: Senator Alexander (Primary Sponsor).
Referred to:
1 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
2 AN ACT TO CHANGE THE ELECTION METHOD FOR THE LINCOLN COUNTY BOARD
3 OF EDUCATION FROM NONPARTISAN TO PARTISAN.
4 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
5 SECTION 1. Section 5 of Chapter 876 of the Session Laws of 1973, as amended by
6 Section 1 of Chapter 179 of the Session Laws of 1983, Chapter 155 of the Session Laws of 1985,
7 and Chapter 304 of the Session Laws of 1989, reads as rewritten:
8 "Sec. 5. At the time of the primary and election of State and county officers for the year 1976,
9 there shall be nominated and elected four members of the Lincoln County Board of Education,
10 one each from North Brook Township, Ironton Township, Lincolnton Township inside the city
11 limits of Lincolnton and at large.
12 At the time of the primary and election of State and county officers for the year 1978, there
13 shall be nominated and elected three members of the Lincoln County Board of Education, one
14 each from the Lincolnton Township outside the city limits of Lincolnton, Howard's Creek
15 Township and Catawba Springs Township. Persons to be elected from districts shall reside in the
16 district they represent, but the qualified voters of the entire county shall elect all members of the
17 board. Each candidate for election to the Lincoln County Board of Education shall file a notice
18 of candidacy with the Lincoln County Board of Elections, and if the candidacy is for a district
19 seat, the notice shall show in which township (or part of township for Lincolnton Township) the
20 person resides. All candidates for election shall file the notice of candidacy during the period
21 beginning at noon on the first Monday in June and ending at noon on the first Monday in July,
22 provided that if the first Monday in July is the fourth day of that month, the period shall end at
23 noon on the fifth day of July, and shall pay a filing fee of ten dollars ($10.00).
24 The Beginning in 2022, the election of the Lincoln County Board of Education shall be
25 conducted by the nonpartisan plurality method, and the results determined in accordance with
26 G.S. 163-292. The date for the election shall be the date of the general election as determined by
27 G.S. 163-1. partisan method at the time of the general election in each even-numbered year as
28 terms expire. Candidates for election to the Lincoln County Board of Education shall be
29 nominated at the same time and manner as other county officers. Except as provided by this act,
30 the election shall be conducted by the Lincoln County Board of Elections in accordance with
31 Chapter 115C and Chapter 163 of the General Statutes.
32 Each person In 2022, and quadrennially thereafter, three members shall be elected to the
33 Lincoln County Board of Education shall serve for a term of four years. Biennially thereafter, at
34 each general election for State and county officers the vacancies occurring in the membership of
35 the Lincoln County Board of Education shall be filled by election as the terms of the members
36 expire, and the members shall be elected for four-year terms. In 2024, and quadrennially
*DRS15120-MK-60B*
 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2021
1 thereafter, four members shall be elected to the Lincoln County Board of Education for a term of
2 four years. The members of the Lincoln County Board of Education nominated and elected shall
3 take office on the first Monday in December following their election, and the terms of their office
4 shall date and extend from that time. The terms of their predecessors shall expire at that same
5 time. Members shall serve until a successor has been elected and qualified.
6 If a person elected to the Lincoln County Board of Education from a township or district
7 ceases to reside in that township or district during the term of office to which he was elected, for
8 any reason other than a redefinition of district boundaries occurring during the term of office, the
9 Lincoln County Board of Education may by majority vote declare a vacancy and proceed to fill
10 the vacancy in the manner provided in Chapter 115C of the General Statutes of North
11 Carolina.Vacancies on the Lincoln County Board of Education for positions elected on a
12 nonpartisan basis in 2018 or 2020 shall be filled by appointment by the remaining members of
13 the Board until the next election of the members of the Board, at which time, the remaining
14 unexpired term of the office in which the vacancy occurs shall be filled by election. Beginning
15 in 2022, vacancies on the Lincoln County Board of Education for positions elected on a partisan
16 basis shall be filled by appointment by the remaining members of the Board, in accordance with
17 G.S. 115C-37.1."
18 SECTION 2. This act does not affect the terms of office of any member elected in
19 2018 or 2020 to the Lincoln County Board of Education. The members of the Lincoln County
20 Board of Education elected in 2018 and 2020, or any member appointed to fill a vacancy for the
21 remainder of an unexpired term for a member elected in 2018 or 2020, shall serve until a
22 successor has been elected and qualified.
23 SECTION 3. Effective on the first Monday in December of 2022, G.S. 115C-37.1(d)
24 reads as rewritten:
25 "(d) This section shall apply only in the following counties: Alleghany, Beaufort,
26 Brunswick, Carteret, Cherokee, Clay, Cleveland, Dare, Davie, Graham, Guilford, Harnett, Hyde,
27 Iredell, Lee, Lincoln, Madison, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender, Rutherford, Stanly, Stokes,
28 Surry, Vance, Washington, and Yancey."
29 SECTION 4. Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes
30 law.
Page 2 DRS15120-MK-60B


Statutes affected:
Filed: 115C-37.1
Edition 1: 115C-37.1