GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1997

H	2 

HOUSE BILL 578
Committee Substitute Favorable 4/24/97

Short Title:  Single-Member Districts.	(Public)

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Sponsors:

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Referred to:

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March 20, 1997

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO AMEND THE CONSTITUTION OF NORTH CAROLINA TO REQUIRE SINGLE-MEMBER LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  Section 3(1) of Article II of the Constitution of North Carolina reads as rewritten:
"(1)	Each Senator shall represent, as nearly as may be, an equal number of inhabitants, with each Senate district having one member;".
Section 2.  Section 5(1) of Article II of the Constitution of North Carolina reads as rewritten:
"(1)	Each Representative shall represent, as nearly as may be, an equal number of inhabitants, with each Representative district having one member;".
Section 3.  The amendments set out in Sections 1 and 2 of this act shall be submitted to the qualified voters of the State at an election on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November of 1997, which election shall be conducted under the laws then governing elections in the State.  Ballots, voting systems, or both may be used in accordance with Chapter 163 of the General Statutes.  The question to be used in the voting systems and ballots shall be:
"[ ] FOR    [ ] AGAINST
Constitutional amendments providing that all members of the General Assembly shall be elected from single-member districts".
Section 4.  The 1997 General Assembly by a three-fifths vote of the members of both houses shall amend G.S. 120-1 and G.S. 120-2 to divide existing multimember districts into single-member districts. The General Assembly shall amend those sections sufficiently early so that they will be in effect by January 1, 1998. Those amendments shall be effective only if the constitutional amendments set out in Sections 1 and 2 of this act are approved.
Section 5.  If a majority of votes cast on the question are in favor of the amendments set out in Sections 1 and 2 of this act, the State Board of Elections shall certify the amendments to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State shall enroll the amendments so certified among the permanent records of that office.  The amendments become effective beginning with the election in 1998, and Sections 3(4) and 5(4) of Article II of the Constitution of North Carolina do not apply to a districting plan adopted for that election and the 2000 election. Provided that, if the 1997 General Assembly does not approve a plan to divide the multimember districts by a three-fifths vote of the members of both houses, the amendments in Sections 1 and 2 of this act become effective for the elections of 2002.
Section 6. This act is effective when it becomes law.