A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to change the method of election for members of the Guilford county board of education from partisan to nonpartisan.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Section 2 of Chapter 78 of the 1991 Session Laws, as amended by Section 1(b) of S.L. 2013‑361, reads as rewritten:
"Sec. 2.  (a) Beginning in 2020, the Board of Education of the Guilford County School Administrative Unit shall be composed of nine members elected on a nonpartisan basis in each even‑numbered year as terms expire. The nonpartisan primary and election method shall be used with the results determined in accordance with G.S. 163A‑1618. The names of the candidates shall be printed on the ballot without reference to any party affiliations. The Guilford County Board of Elections shall establish the candidate filing period. Members shall be elected at the same time as the regular primary and general election dates for county officers.
(b)	In 2022, and quadrennially thereafter, members for Districts 2, 4, 6, and 8, as established under subsection (g) of this section, and a member elected at large from within the entirety of Guilford County shall be elected for four‑year terms. In 2020 and quadrennially thereafter, members for Districts 1, 3, 5, and 7, as established under subsection (g) of this section, shall be elected for four‑year terms.
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SECTION 2.  Section 3 of Chapter 78 of the 1991 Session Laws reads as rewritten:
"Sec. 3.  Elections shall be held in accordance with the applicable provisions of Chapter 115C and Chapter 163 of the General Statutes, except as otherwise provided for in this act.
SECTION 3.  Section 6 of Chapter 78 of the 1991 Session Laws, as amended by Section 1(c) of S.L. 2013‑361, reads as rewritten:
"Sec. 6.  Vacancies on the Guilford County Board of Education shall be filled by vote of a majority of the remaining members of the Board present and voting for the remainder of the unexpired term. Vacancies for positions elected on a partisan basis in 2016 or 2018 shall be filled as provided in G.S. 115C‑37.1(d). In instances in which the member being replaced was elected from within a single member district, the Board must appoint a resident of the district where the vacancy exists."
SECTION 4.  Effective the first Monday in December of 2020, G.S. 115C‑37.1(d) reads as rewritten:
"(d)	This section shall apply only in the following counties: Alleghany, Beaufort, Brunswick, Carteret, Cherokee, Clay, Cleveland, Dare, Davie, Graham, Harnett, Hyde, Iredell, Lee, Madison, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender, Rutherford, Stanly, Vance, Washington, and Yancey."
SECTION 5.  This act does not affect the terms of office of any person elected in 2016 or 2018 to the Guilford County Board of Education. The members of the Guilford County Board of Education elected in 2016 or 2018, or any member appointed by the remaining members of the Board to fill a vacancy of a member elected in 2016 or 2018, shall serve until a successor has been elected and qualified.
SECTION 6.  Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes law.