Laws governing local ballot measures in North Carolina

Laws Governing Local Ballot Measures

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Terms

Initiative • Home rule • General law city • Charter city • Petition • Initiative petition circulation periods • Circulator • Paid circulator • Volunteer circulator • Circulator affidavit • Signer • Valid signature • Forged signature • Fraudulent signature • Invalid signature • Electronic petition signature • Legislative alteration • Registered voter

This page describes the state constitutional provisions and statutes that govern local ballot measures in North Carolina. Jurisdictions often establish additional rules within the parameters of state law; those can be found in local ordinances and home-rule charters.

Explore the links below for more information:

• Laws addressing local ballot measure powers in North Carolina
• General requirements for local ballot measures
• Rules for citizen-initiated local ballot measures
• Rules for referred local ballot measures

Law

The North Carolina Constitution and North Carolina General Statutes establish the rules that govern local ballot measures in the state.

• Constitution: Article VII, Section 1
• Statutes: G.S. 160A-102, G.S. 160A-103, G.S. 160A-104, G.S. 163-218, G.S. 163-219, G.S. 159-17, and G.S. 159-49

General

The following outlines the general rules that govern local ballot measures in North Carolina, including both citizen-initiated measures and referred measures from local government bodies.

• Election timing: If a local measure is approved to appear on the ballot, the governing body of the municipality or county must call a special election during either:
  • The same time as any other state or county general election.
  • The same time as the primary election in any even-numbered year.
  • The same time as any other election requiring all the precincts in the county to be open.
  • The same time as a municipal general election, if the special election is within the jurisdiction of the municipality only.

• Vote requirements: All local ballot measures in North Carolina require a simple majority vote to be approved.

• Required ballot measures: Bonds issued by counties, cities, or special districts must be submitted to and approved by voters before they pass into law, with exceptions for those:
  • Suppressing riots, insurrections or any extraordinary breach of law and order.
  • Supplying an unforeseen deficiency in the revenue when taxes collected during the fiscal year fall below collection estimates made in the annual budget ordinance.
  • Meeting emergencies threatening the public health or safety, as determined by the governor.
  • Refunding outstanding general obligation bonds or general obligation bond anticipation notes.

• Ballot measure topic restrictions: In North Carolina, there are no statewide topic restrictions for local ballot measures. However, no initiative petition with the same subject matter can be filed in the following scenarios:
  • When the subject is already being put on the ballot for voter approval.
  • Within one year and six months following the effective date of an ordinance amending the city charter.
  • Within one year and six months following the date of any election on charter amendments that were defeated by the voters.

Initiatives

The following outlines the general rules that govern local citizen-initiated ballot measures in North Carolina.

• Authority:
  • G.S. 160A-104 grants voters the ability to initiate petitions for charter amendments.
  • G.S. 160A-103 grants voters the ability to file referendums for charter amendments that are adopted through local ordinances.

• Signatures: Both initiated petitions and referendums for charter amendments require signatures equal to either at least 10% of the whole number of voters who are registered to vote in city elections, per the most recent figures certified by the State Board of Elections. or 5,000 — whichever is less.

• Deadlines:
  • There is no specific deadline for submitting signatures for initiated petitions mentioned in either the North Carolina Constitution or North Carolina General Statutes.
  • Signatures for referendums must be filed with the city clerk within 30 days after publication of the notice of adoption of the ordinance.

Referrals

The following outlines the general rules that govern local referred ballot measures in North Carolina.

• Authority: G.S. 160A-102 grants local legislative bodies the ability to submit charter ordinances to a referendum without an initiative being filed.

• Deadline: Charter ordinances put through a referendum by a local legislative body must be referred to the ballot at the next date permitted under G.S. 163-287(a) that is more than 70 days after adoption of the ordinance.

Laws governing local ballot measures in the U.S.

Laws governing local ballot measures in the United States

As state laws govern ballot measures, the rules are different from state to state. Click on a state below to explore that state's laws on local ballot measures.

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http://ballotpedia.org/Laws_governing_local_ballot_measures_in_STATE

See also

• Laws governing local ballot measures
• Laws governing local ballot measures in North Carolina
• Local ballot measures, North Carolina
• Counties in North Carolina

Footnotes

Laws governing ballot measures in the United States

Laws governing ballot measures

Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming

Changes to laws governing ballot measures

Types of ballot measures

Citizen-initiated ballot measures • Legislatively referred ballot measures • Automatically referred ballot measures • Commission-referred ballot measures • Convention-referred constitutional amendments

Ballot measure policy terms

Glossary of ballot measure policy terms