GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2001
H	1
HOUSE BILL 532

 
 
Short Title:	Team Ticket.	()	
Sponsors:	Representative Ellis.	
Referred to:	Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House.	
March 8, 2001

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to Amend the north carolina constitution to provide that the governor and lieutenant governor run as a joint ticket in the general election.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Section 2 of Article III of the North Carolina Constitution is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(3)	Team election. In the general election, each candidate for the office of Governor shall form a joint candidacy with a candidate for Lieutenant Governor so that each voter shall cast a single vote for a candidate for Governor and a candidate for Lieutenant Governor running together."SECTION 2.  The amendment set out in Section 1 of this act shall be submitted to the qualified voters of the State at the general election in November 2002, 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 amendment providing that candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall be listed on the general election ballot as a team."
SECTION 3.  If a majority of the votes cast on the question are in favor of the amendment set out in Section 1 of this act, the State Board of Elections shall certify the amendment to the Secretary of State.  The constitutional amendment in Section 1 of this act shall become effective beginning with candidacies for the 2004 General Election. The Secretary of State shall enroll the amendment so certified among the permanent records of that office.
SECTION 4.  Chapter 163 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 163‑115.1. Party must nominate candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor.
If a party nominates a candidate for Governor under this Article, it must also nominate a candidate for Lieutenant Governor, or the nomination as Governor is void. If a party nominates a candidate for Lieutenant Governor under this Article, it must also nominate a candidate for Governor, or the nomination as Lieutenant Governor is void. If a candidate or candidates file a notice of candidacy for Governor or Lieutenant Governor under G.S. 163-106 or G.S. 163-107.1, but all candidacies for such office are withdrawn before the deadline under G.S. 163-106(e) such that the party has no nominee, the vacancy in nomination may be filled under G.S. 163-114 as if the party had nominated a candidate for that office before the filing deadline."
SECTION 5.  G.S. 163‑98 reads as rewritten:
"§ 163‑98. General election participation by new political party.
In the first general election following the date on which a new political party qualifies under the provisions of G.S. 163‑96, it shall be entitled to have the names of its candidates for State, congressional, and national offices printed on the official ballots, but it shall not be entitled to have the names of candidates for other offices printed on State, district, or county ballots at that election.
For the first general election following the date on which it qualifies under G.S. 163‑96, a new political party shall select its candidates by party convention. Following adjournment of the nominating convention, but not later than the first day of July prior to the general election, the president of the convention shall certify to the State Board of Elections the names of persons chosen in the convention as the new party's candidates for State, congressional, and national offices in the ensuing general election. The State Board of Elections shall print names thus certified on the appropriate ballots as the nominees of the new party. The convention, if it nominates a candidate for Governor, must also nominate a candidate for Lieutenant Governor, or the nomination for Governor shall be void except that if it fails to nominate a candidate for Lieutenant Governor, its candidate for Governor may nominate a candidate for Lieutenant Governor between July 1 and July 15. The convention, if it nominates a candidate for Lieutenant Governor, must also nominate a candidate for Governor, or the nomination for Lieutenant Governor is void."
SECTION 6.  G.S. 163‑122 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(d)	In filing petitions as an unaffiliated candidate, a petition for the office of Governor shall also contain the name of a candidate for Lieutenant Governor, and the petition shall be a petition for both. In filing petitions as an unaffiliated candidate, a petition for the office of Lieutenant Governor shall also contain the name of a candidate for Governor, and the petition shall be a petition for both. The form of the petition requesting unaffiliated candidates to be placed on the ballot for Governor and Lieutenant Governor on the general election ballot shall contain on the heading of each page of the petition in bold print or in all capital letters the words:  'THE UNDERSIGNED REGISTERED VOTERS IN ........ COUNTY HEREBY PETITION ON BEHALF OF ..... AS AN UNAFFILIATED CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR AND .......... AS AN UNAFFILIATED CANDIDATE FOR LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR IN THE NEXT GENERAL ELECTION. THE UNDERSIGNED HEREBY PETITION THAT THE SUBJECT CANDIDATES BE PLACED ON THE APPROPRIATE BALLOT UPON COMPLIANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF G.S. 163‑122.' "
SECTION 7.  G.S. 163‑140(b)(4) reads as rewritten:
"(4)	State Ballot: Beneath the title and general instructions set out in this subsection, the ballot for single‑seat contests for State officers, and for all State officers where mechanical voting machines are used shall be divided into parallel columns separated by distinct black lines. The State Board of Elections shall assign a separate column to each political party having candidates for State offices and one to unaffiliated candidates, if any. At the head of each party column the party's name shall be printed in large type, and at the head of the column for unaffiliated candidates shall be printed in large type the words 'Unaffiliated Candidates' Below the party name in each column shall be printed a circle, one‑half inch in diameter, around which shall be plainly printed the following instruction: 'For a straight ticket, mark within this circle.' With distinct black lines, the State Board of Elections shall divide the columns into horizontal sections and, in the customary order of office, assign a separate section to each office or group of offices to be filled. The offices of Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall be combined on the State ballot and the nominees of each party or unaffiliated offices listed together so that a vote for a candidate for one of those offices is a vote for the candidates for both offices. Such team election of Governor and Lieutenant Governor is not a multiseat race for the purpose of subsection (f) of this section.
On a single line at the top of each section shall be printed a direction as to the number of candidates for whom a vote may be cast. If candidates are to be chosen for different terms to the same office, the term in each instance shall be printed as part of the title of the office.
		The name or names of each political party's candidate or candidates for each office listed on the ballot shall be printed in the appropriate office section of the proper party column, and the names of unaffiliated candidates shall be printed in the appropriate office section of the column headed 'Unaffiliated Candidates.' At the left of each name shall be printed a voting square, and in each column all voting squares shall be arranged in a perpendicular line.
		On the face of the ballot, above the party and unaffiliated column division, the following instructions shall be printed in heavy black type, and the words 'you must also' in instruction c. shall be underlined:
'a.	To vote for all candidates of one party (a straight ticket), make a cross (X) mark in the circle of the party for whose candidates you wish to vote.
b.	You may vote a split ticket by not marking a cross (X) mark in the party circle, but by making a cross (X) mark in the square opposite the name of each candidate for whom you wish to vote.
c.	You may also vote a split ticket by marking a cross (X) mark in the party circle and then making a cross (X) mark in the square opposite the name of any candidate you choose of a different party. In any multi‑seat race where a party circle is marked and you vote for candidates of another party, you must also make a cross (X) mark opposite the name of any candidate you choose of the party for which you marked the party circle to assure your vote will count.
d.	If you tear or deface or wrongly mark this ballot, return it and get another.'
		On the bottom of the ballot shall be printed an identified facsimile of the signature of the Chairman of the State Board of Elections. If the State ballot contains no multi‑seat race, then the second sentence of instruction b. shall not appear on the ballot."
SECTION 8.  G.S. 163‑151(6) is amended by adding a new sub‑subdivision to read:
"f.	A write‑in vote for a candidate for Governor shall not be counted unless that person has also written in the name of a candidate for Lieutenant Governor. A write‑in vote for a candidate for Lieutenant Governor shall not be counted unless that person has also written in the name of a candidate for Governor."
SECTION 9.  G.S. 163‑123 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(c1)	Any declaration of intent filed under this section for the office of Governor shall be a joint declaration with another candidate for the office of Lieutenant Governor. Any declaration of intent filed under this section for the office of Lieutenant Governor shall be a joint declaration with another candidate for the office of Governor. The declaration shall be signed by both candidates. The State Board of Elections shall provide for a joint petition form for Governor and Lieutenant Governor in lieu of the one provided by subsection (d) of this section."
SECTION 10.  Sections 4 through 9 of this act become effective only if the constitutional amendment proposed by Section 1 of this act is approved as provided by Sections 2 and 3 of this act, and if so approved, Sections 4 through 9 of this act become effective January 1, 2004, so that it applies to candidacies for the 2004 General Election.
SECTION 11. This act is effective when it becomes law.