A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO PROVIDE REGULATORY RELIEF FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS BY AUTHORIZING CITIES TO RESERVE CERTAIN EASEMENTS WHEN PERMANENTLY CLOSING STREETS AND ALLEYS; BY REPEALING THE REQUIREMENT FOR LICENSING OF GOING OUT OF BUSINESS SALES BY LOCAL GOVERNMENTs; BY PROVIDING FOR ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF ABSENTEE BALLOT LISTS BY COUNTY BOARDS OF ELECTION; AND BY EXEMPTING LOCAL GOVERNMENT REGULAR PAYROLL AND BENEFITS PAYMENTS FROM PRE‑AUDIT CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

CLARIFY EASEMENT RESERVATION AUTHORITY FOR CITIES CLOSING STREETS AND ALLEYS
SECTION 1.  G.S. 160A‑299 reads as rewritten:
"§ 160A‑299.  Procedure for permanently closing streets and alleys.
…
(f)	A city may reserve a right, title, and interest in any improvements or easements within a street closed pursuant to this section. An easement under this subsection shall include utility, drainage, pedestrian, landscaping, conservation, or other easements considered by the city to be in the public interest. The reservation of an easement under this subsection shall be stated in the order of closing. The reservation also extends to utility improvements or easements owned by private utilities which at the time of the street closing have a utility agreement or franchise with the city.
…."

REPEAL LICENSING FOR GOING OUT OF BUSINESS/DISTRESS SALES
SECTION 2.(a)  G.S. 66‑77 is repealed.
SECTION 2.(b)  G.S. 66‑80 reads as rewritten:
"§ 66‑80.  Continuation of sale or business beyond termination date.
No person shall conduct a closing‑out sale or a sale of goods, wares or merchandise damaged by fire, smoke, water or otherwise or a distress sale beyond the termination date specified for such sale; nor shall any person, upon conclusion of such sale, continue that business which had been represented as closing out or going out of business under the same name, or under a different name, at the same location, or elsewhere in the same city or town where the inventory for such sale was filed for a period of 12 months; nor shall any person, upon conclusion of such sale, continue business contrary to the designation of such sale. As used in this section, the term "person" includes individuals, partnerships, corporations, and other business entities. If a business entity that is prohibited from continuing a business under this section reformulates itself as a new entity or as an individual, whether by sale, merger, acquisition, bankruptcy, dissolution, or any other transaction, for the purpose of continuing the business, the successor entity or individual shall be considered the same person as the original entity for the purpose of this section. If an individual who is prohibited from continuing a business under this section forms a new business entity to continue the business, that entity shall be considered the same person as the individual for the purpose of this section."

ELECTRONIC REPORTING FOR COUNTY BOARDS OF ELECTIONS
SECTION 3.(a)  G.S. 163‑232 reads as rewritten:
"§ 163‑232.  Certified list of executed absentee ballots; distribution of list.
The county board of elections shall prepare, or cause to be prepared, a list in at least quadruplicate, of all absentee ballots returned to the county board of elections to be counted, which have been approved by the county board of elections, and which have been received as of 5:00 p.m. on the day before the election. At the end of the list, the chairman shall execute the following certificate under oath:
"State of North Carolina
County of ______________
I, ______________, chairman of the ____________ County board of elections, do hereby certify that the foregoing is a list of all executed absentee ballots to be voted in the election to be conducted on the ____________ day of ______________, ________, which have been approved by the county board of elections and which have been returned no later than 5:00 p.m. on the day before the election. I certify that the chairman, member, officer, or employee of the board of elections has not delivered ballots for absentee voting to any person other than the voter, by mail or by commercial courier service or in person, except as provided by law, and have not mailed or delivered ballots when the request for the ballot was received after the deadline provided by law.
This the ______ day of ______, ______
____________________
(Signature of chairman of
county board of elections)
Sworn to and subscribed before me this ____________ day of ______, _____.
Witness my hand and official seal.
________________
(Signature of officer
administering oath)
________________
(Title of officer)"
No later than 10:00 a.m. on election day, the county board of elections shall cause one copy of the list of executed absentee ballots, which may be a continuing countywide list or a separate list for each precinct, to be immediately (i) submitted electronically by means of the State Election Information Management System (SEIMS), or its successor system, to the State Board of Elections or (ii) deposited as "first‑class" mail to the State Board of Elections. The board shall retain one copy in the board office for public inspection and the board shall cause two copies of the appropriate precinct list to be delivered to the chief judge of each precinct in the county. The county board of elections shall be authorized to call upon the sheriff of the county to distribute the list to the precincts. In addition the county board of elections shall, upon request, provide a copy of the complete list to the chairman of each political party, recognized under the provisions of G.S. 163‑96, represented in the county.
The chief judge shall post one copy of the list immediately in a conspicuous location in the voting place and retain one copy until all challenges of absentee ballots have been heard by the county board of elections. Challenges shall be made to absentee ballots as provided in G.S. 163‑89.
After receipt of the list of absentee voters required by this section the chief judge shall call the name of each person recorded on the list and enter an "A" in the appropriate voting square on the voter's permanent registration record, or a similar entry on the computer list used at the polls. If such person is already recorded as having voted in that election, the chief judge shall enter a challenge which shall be presented to the county board of elections for resolution by the board of elections prior to certification of results by the board.
All lists required by this section shall be retained by the county board of elections for a period of 22 months after which they may then be destroyed."
SECTION 3.(b)  G.S. 163‑232.1(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c)	The board shall post one copy of the most current version of each list in the board office in a conspicuous location for public inspection and shall retain one copy until all challenges of absentee ballots have been heard by the county board of elections. The county board of elections shall cause one copy of each of the final lists of executed absentee ballots required under subsection (a) and subsection (b) of this section to be (i) submitted electronically by means of the State Election Information Management System (SEIMS), or its successor system, to the State Board of Elections or (ii) deposited as "first‑class" mail to the State Board of Elections. The final lists shall be electronically submitted or mailed no later than 10:00 a.m. of the next business day following the deadline for receipt of such absentee ballots. Challenges shall be made to absentee ballots as provided in G.S. 163‑89. In addition the county board of elections shall, upon request, provide a copy of each of the lists to the chairman of each political party, recognized under the provisions of G.S. 163‑96, represented in the county."

PRE‑AUDIT CERTIFICATIONS
SECTION 4.  G.S. 159‑28 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(f)	This section shall not apply to disbursements for regular payroll and benefits."

EFFECTIVE DATE
SECTION 5.  Section 2 of this act becomes effective July 1, 2015. Section 4 of this act becomes effective July 1, 2015, and applies to disbursements on or after that date. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law.