North Carolina § 160A-103 - Referendum on charter amendments by ordinance.

§ 160A-103. Referendum on charter amendments by ordinance.

An ordinance adopted under G.S. 160A-102 that is not made effective upon approval by a vote of the people shall be subject to a referendum petition. Upon receipt of a referendum petition bearing the signatures and residence addresses of a number of qualified voters of the city equal to at least 10 percent of the whole number of voters who are registered to vote in city elections according to the most recent figures certified by the State Board of Elections or 5,000, whichever is less, the council shall submit an ordinance adopted under G.S. 160A-102 to a vote of the people. The date of the special election shall be fixed on a date permitted by G.S. 163-287 . A referendum petition shall be addressed to the council and shall identify the ordinance to be submitted to a vote. A referendum petition must be filed with the city clerk not later than 30 days after publication of the notice of adoption of the ordinance. History (1969, c. 629, s. 2; 1971, c. 698, s. 1; 1979, 2nd Sess., c. 1247, ss. 13, 15; 2013-381, s. 10.27; 2017-6, s. 3; 2018-146, ss. 3.1(a), (b), 6.1.) Local Modification. - City of Wilson: 1989, c. 107, s. 1; Town of Castle Hayne: 2011-166 (effective upon certification of election results as to incorporation); town of Duck: 2001-394, s. 1; town of Eastover: 2007-267, s. 1 (contingent on preclearance under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965); town of Rougemont: 2011-114, s. 1 (effective upon certification of election results as to incorporation); town of St. James: 1999-241, s. 1. Re-codification; Technical and Conforming Changes. - Session Laws 2017-6, s. 3, provides, in part: "The Revisor of Statutes shall recodify Chapter 138A of the General Statutes, Chapter 120C of the General Statutes, as well as Chapter 163 of the General Statutes, as amended by this act, into a new Chapter 163A of the General Statutes to be entitled `Elections and Ethics Enforcement Act,' as enacted by Section 4 of this act. The Revisor may also recodify into the new Chapter 163A of the General Statutes other existing statutory laws relating to elections and ethics enforcement that are located elsewhere in the General Statutes as the Revisor deems appropriate." The Revisor was further authorized to make additional technical and conforming changes to catchlines, internal citations, and other references throughout the General Statutes to effectuate this recodification, in consultation with the State Ethics Commission, the State Board of Elections, the Secretary of State, and the new Bipartisan State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement. Pursuant to this authority, the Revisor of Statutes substituted "Bipartisan State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement" for "State Board of Elections" and "163A-1592" for "163-287." Session Laws 2018-146, ss. 3.1(a), (b) and 6.1 repealed Session Laws 2017-6, s. 3, and authorized the Revisor of Statutes to re-recodify Chapter 163A into Chapters 163, 138A, and 120C and to revert the changes made by the Revisor pursuant to Session Laws 2017-6, s. 3. Pursuant to this authority, the Revisor of Statutes reverted the changes to the references in this section. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2013-381, s. 10.27, effective January 1, 2014, substituted "on a date permitted by G.S. 163-287 " for "at not more than 120 nor fewer than 60 days after receipt of the petition" at the end of the third sentence of this section. For applicability, see Editor's note.