§ 163-11. Filling vacancies in the General Assembly. - North Carolina Statutes

§ 163‑11.  Fillingvacancies in the General Assembly.

(a)        If a vacancy shalloccur in the General Assembly by death, resignation, or otherwise than byexpiration of term, the Governor shall immediately appoint for the unexpiredpart of the term the person recommended by the political party executivecommittee provided by this section. The Governor shall make the appointmentwithin seven days of receiving the recommendation of the appropriate committee.If the Governor fails to make the appointment within the required period, heshall be presumed to have made the appointment and the legislative body towhich the appointee was recommended is directed to seat the appointee as amember in good standing for the duration of the unexpired term.

(b)        If the district consistssolely of one county and includes all of that county, the Governor shallappoint the person recommended by the county executive committee of thepolitical party with which the vacating member was affiliated when elected, itbeing the party executive committee of the county which the vacating member wasresident.

(c)        If the districtconsists solely of one county but includes less than all of the county, theGovernor shall appoint the person recommended by the county executive committeeof the political party with which the vacating member was affiliated whenelected, it being the county executive committee of the county which thevacating member was resident, provided that in voting only those countyexecutive committee members who reside in the district shall be eligible tovote.

(d)        If the districtconsists of more than one county, the Governor shall appoint for the unexpiredportion of the term the person recommended by the State House ofRepresentatives district committee or the Senatorial district committee of thepolitical party with which the vacating member was affiliated when elected. Inthe case where all of a county is included within a district, the countyconvention or county executive committee of that political party shall elect orappoint at least one member from that county to serve on the State House ofRepresentatives district executive committee or State Senatorial districtexecutive committee. In the case where only part of a county is included withina district, the county convention or county executive committee of thatpolitical party shall elect or appoint at least one member from that county toserve on the State House of Representatives district committee or the StateSenatorial district committee, but only the delegates to the county conventionor the members of the county executive committee who reside in the district mayvote in electing the district committee member. When the State House ofRepresentatives district committee or the State Senatorial district committeemeets, a member shall be entitled to cast for his county (or the part of hiscounty within the district) one vote for each 300 persons or major fractionthereof residing within that county, or in the case where less than the wholecounty is in the district one vote for each 300 persons or major fractionthereof residing in that part of the district within the county.

A county convention or countyexecutive committee may elect more than one member to the district committeebut in the event that more than one member is selected from that county, theneach member shall cast an equal share of the votes allotted to the county.

(e)        No person iseligible for appointment to fill a vacancy in the Senate or the House ofRepresentatives under this section, unless that person would have beenqualified to vote as an elector for that office if an election were to be heldon the date of appointment. This section is intended to implement theprovisions of Section 8 of Article VI of the Constitution. (1901, c. 89, s. 74; Rev., s.4298; C.S., s. 5919; 1947, c. 505, s. 1; 1953, c. 1191, s. 1; 1967, c. 775, s.1; 1973, c. 35; 1981 (Reg. Sess., 1982), c. 1265, s. 3; 2007‑391, s.27(b).)