AN ACT to provide for the nonpartisan election of the winston‑salem/forsyth county board of education and to stagger the election cycle.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  Section 2(a)(5)(iii) of Chapter 112, Session Laws of 1961, as amended by Chapter 466, Session Laws of 1985, and by Section 2 of Chapter 696 of the 1991 Session Laws, reads as rewritten:
"(iii) Notwithstanding the provisions of G.S. 115C‑37, the Winston‑Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education shall be elected on a nonpartisan basis at the time of the general election in each even‑numbered year as terms expire. The names of the candidates shall be printed on the ballot without reference to any party affiliations. The nonpartisan primary and election method shall be used with the results determined as provided in G.S. 163‑294, and the primary shall be held on the date provided by G.S. 163‑1 for county partisan primaries. Except as provided by this act, the election shall be conducted in accordance with the applicable provisions of Chapters 115C and 163 of the General Statutes. Candidates shall file their notice of candidacy with the county board of elections under the same schedule provided by G.S. 163‑106(c).
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SECTION 2.  Section 2(a)(5)(ii) of Chapter 112, Session Laws of 1961, as rewritten by Chapter 466, Session Laws of 1985 and Chapter 696 of the 1991 Session Laws, reads as rewritten:
"(ii)	Effective on the first Monday in December 1986, the Winston‑Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education shall be composed of nine members. In the 2010 election, nine persons shall be elected to the Winston‑Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education for four‑year terms. In 2010:
(1)	Two persons shall be elected from District 1. The person receiving the highest number of votes is elected to a four‑year term, and the person receiving the next highest number of votes is elected to a two‑year term.
(2)	Four persons shall be elected from District 2. The two persons receiving the two highest numbers of votes are elected to a four‑year term, and the two persons receiving the two next highest numbers of votes are elected to two‑year terms.
(3)	Three members shall be elected at large from all of Forsyth County. The person receiving the highest number of votes is elected to a four‑year term, and the two persons receiving the two next highest numbers of votes are elected to two‑year terms.
Successors to those elected in 2010 shall serve four‑year terms.
		
For an at‑large seat, any qualified voter of Forsyth County is eligible to vote. For the district seats, only residents of the district shall be eligible to be candidates and only qualified voters of the district shall be eligible to vote.
The districts as established for the purpose of this subparagraph are for the 2010 election those established under G.S. 115C‑37(i), which are subject to change for the election in 2012 after the return of the 2010 census. "
SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 9th day of June, 2009.

	s/	 Walter H. Dalton
	 President of the Senate

	s/	 Joe Hackney
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives