§ 163-123. Declaration of intent and petitions for write-in candidates in partisan elections.
§ 163‑123. Declarationof intent and petitions for write‑in candidates in partisan elections.
(a) Procedure forQualifying as a Write‑In Candidate. Any qualified voter who seeks tohave write‑in votes for him counted in a general election shall file a declarationof intent in accordance with subsection (b) of this section and petition(s) inaccordance with subsection (c) of this section.
(b) Declaration ofIntent. The applicant for write‑in candidacy shall file his declarationof intent at the same time and with the same board of elections as hispetition, as set out in subsection (c) of this section. The declaration shallcontain:
(1) Applicant's name,
(2) Applicant'sresidential address,
(3) Declaration ofapplicant's intent to be a write‑in candidate,
(4) Title of the officesought,
(5) Date of theelection,
(6) Date of thedeclaration,
(7) Applicant'ssignature.
(c) Petitions for Write‑inCandidacy. An applicant for write‑in candidacy shall:
(1) If the office is astatewide office, file written petitions with the State Board of Electionssupporting his candidacy for a specified office. These petitions shall be filedon or before noon on the 90th day before the general election. They shall besigned by 500 qualified voters of the State. No later than 5:00 p.m. on thefifteenth day preceding the date the petitions are due to be filed with theState Board of Elections, each petition shall be presented to the board ofelections of the county in which the signatures were obtained. A petitionpresented to a county board of elections shall contain only names of votersregistered in that county. Provided the petitions are timely submitted, thechairman of the county board of elections shall examine the names on thepetition and place a check mark by the name of each signer who is qualified andregistered to vote in his county. The chairman of the county board shall attachto the petition his signed certificate. On his certificate the chairman shallstate that the signatures on the petition have been checked against theregistration records and shall indicate the number of signers who are qualifiedand registered to vote in his county and eligible to vote for that office. Thechairman shall return each petition, together with the certificate required inthis section, to the person who presented it to him for checking. The chairmanof the county board shall complete the verification within two weeks from thedate the petition is presented.
(2) If the office is adistrict office under the jurisdiction of the State Board of Elections underG.S. 163‑182.4(b), file written petitions with the State Board ofElections supporting that applicant's candidacy for a specified office. Thesepetitions must be filed with the State Board of Elections on or before noon onthe 90th day before the general election and must be signed by 250 qualifiedvoters. Before being filed with the State Board of Elections, each petitionshall be presented to the board of elections of the county in which thesignatures were obtained. A petition presented to a county board of electionsshall contain only names of voters registered in that county who are eligibleto vote for that office. The chairman of the county board shall examine thenames on the petition and the procedure for certification shall be the same asspecified in subdivision (1).
(3) If the office is acounty office, or is a school administrative unit office elected on a partisanbasis, or is a legislative district consisting of a single county or a portionof a county, file written petitions with the county board of electionssupporting his candidacy for a specified office. A petition presented to acounty board of elections shall contain only names of voters registered in thatcounty. These petitions must be filed on or before noon on the 90th day beforethe general election and must be signed by 100 qualified voters who areeligible to vote for the office, unless fewer than 5,000 persons are eligibleto vote for the office as shown by the most recent records of the appropriateboard of elections. If fewer than 5,000 persons are eligible to vote for theoffice, an applicant's petition must be signed by not less than one percent(1%) of those registered voters. Before being filed with the county board ofelections, each petition shall be presented to the county board of electionsfor examination. The chairman of the county board of elections shall examinethe names on the petition and the procedure for certification shall be the sameas specified in subdivision (1).
(d) Form of Petition. Petitions requesting the qualification of a write‑in candidate in ageneral election shall contain on the heading of each page of the petition inbold print or in capital letters the words: "THE UNDERSIGNED REGISTEREDVOTERS IN __________ COUNTY HEREBY PETITION ON BEHALF OF ______________ AS AWRITE‑IN CANDIDATE IN THE NEXT GENERAL ELECTION. THE UNDERSIGNED HEREBYPETITION THAT SUBJECT CANDIDATE BE PLACED ON THE LIST OF QUALIFIED WRITE‑INCANDIDATES WHOSE VOTES ARE TO BE COUNTED AND RECORDED IN ACCORDANCE WITH G.S.163‑123."
(e) Defeated PrimaryCandidate. No person whose name appeared on the ballot in a primary electionpreliminary to the general election shall be eligible to have votes counted forhim as a write‑in candidate for the same office in that year.
(f) Counting andRecording of Votes. If a qualified voter has complied with the provisions ofsubsections (a), (b), and (c) and is not excluded by subsection (e), the boardof elections with which petition has been filed shall count votes for him accordingto the procedures set out in G.S. 163‑182.1, and the appropriate board ofelections shall record those votes on the official abstract. Write‑invotes for names other than those of qualified write‑in candidates shallnot be counted for any purpose and shall not be recorded on the abstract.
(f1) When any personfiles a petition with a board of elections under this section, the board ofelections shall, immediately upon receipt of the petition, inspect theregistration records of the county and cancel the petition of any person whodoes not meet the constitutional or statutory qualifications for the office,including residency.
The board shall give notice ofcancellation to any person whose petition has been cancelled under thissubsection by mail or by having the notice served on that person by thesheriff. A person whose petition has been cancelled or another candidate forthe same office affected by a substantiation under this subsection may requesta hearing on the issue of constitutional or statutory qualifications for theoffice. If the person requests a hearing, the hearing shall be conducted inaccordance with Article 11B of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes.
(g) Municipal andNonpartisan Elections Excluded. This section does not apply to municipalelections conducted under Subchapter IX of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes,and does not apply to nonpartisan elections except for elections under Article25 of this Chapter. (1987, c. 393, ss. 1; 2; 1989, c. 92, s. 1; 1999‑424, s. 5(c);2001‑319, s. 9(a); 2001‑398, s. 7; 2001‑403, s. 12; 2002‑158,s. 13; 2004‑127, s. 7; 2006‑155, s. 4; 2007‑391, s. 8(b);2008‑187, s. 33(a).)