HB 129 — Judge Joe John Nonpartisan Judicial Elections Act.

163-106.2 but which is not listed in subsection (b) of this section, or a municipal oranyoranyotherofficerequiringapartisanprimarywhich otherofficerequiring apartisanprimarywhich is not set forth in G.S.

House of Representatives, District Attorney, judge of the superior court, judge of the district court, and members of the State House of Representatives from multi-countymulti-countydistricts districts or members of the State Senate from multi-county districts must be presented to the countycountyboard board of elections for verification at least 15 days before Page 10 DRH40102-LUxfe-41House Bill 129-First Edition General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025 the petition is due to be filed with the State Board of Elections, and such petition must be filed with the State Board no later than 12:00 noon on MondayMondaypreceding preceding the filing deadline.

"(1) Acandidatewhois apparentlyentitledto demanda second primary,accordingprimary, according to the unofficial results, for one of the offices listed below, and desiring to do so, shall file a request for a second primary in writing with the Executive Director of the State Board of Elections no later than 12:00 noon on the ninth day (including Saturdays and Sundays) following the date on which the primary was conducted, and such request shall be subject to the certification of the official results by the State Board of Elections.

Governor, Lieutenant Governor, All State executive officers, Justices, Judges, or District Attorneys of the General Court of Justice, United States Senators, Members of the United States House of Representatives, State Senators in multi-county senatorial districts, and Members oftheStateHouseofRepresentativesin multi-countymulti-countyrepresentative representative districts." SECTION 2.12.

Filling vacanciesamongpartynominees occurringoccurringafternomination afterand nominationbefore andbefore election.

(a) If anyanyperson person nominated as a candidate of a political party for one of the offices listed below (either in a primary or convention or by virtue of having no opposition in a primary) dies, resigns,orforanyreasonresigns, orforanyreason becomesineligibleordisqualifiedbeforethedate oftheensuinggeneral election, the vacancy shall be filled by appointment according to the following instructions:

Position President Vacancy is to be filled by Vice President appointment of national executive committee of political party in which vacancy occurs Presidential elector or Vacancy is to be filled by ap- DRH40102-LUxfe-41House Bill 129-First Edition Page 11 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025 alternate elector pointment of State execu- Any elective State office tive committee of political United States Senator party in which vacancy occurs 5 A district office, including:

If a vacancy occurs in a nomination of a political party and that vacancy arises from a cause other than death and the vacancy in nomination occurs more than 120 days before the general election, the vacancy in nomination may be filled under this section Page 12 DRH40102-LUxfe-41House Bill 129-First Edition General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025 onlyonlyif if the appropriate executive committee certifies the name of the nominee in accordance with this paragraph at least 75 days before the general election.

(b) In a county which is partly in a multicounty judicial district, in choosing that county's member or members of the judicial district executive committee for the multicountymulticountydistrict, district, only the county convention delegates or county executive committee members who reside within the area of the county which is within that multicounty district may vote.

The State Board of Elections shall establish a review procedure that local boards ofelections shall followto ensurethatcandidates'ensurethatcandidates'namesappearon namesappearontheofficialtheofficial ballot in accordance with this subdivision." SECTION 2.16.

Accordingly, this Article reestablishes the North Carolina Public Campaign Fund as an alternative source of campaign financing for candidates who demonstrate public support and voluntarily accept strict DRH40102-LUxfe-41House Bill 129-First Edition Page 13 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025 fundraising and spending limits.

MadebyMadebyanindividualwhois anindividualwhois a registered voter in this Stateat thetime of the submittal of the report specified in G.S.

Page 14 DRH40102-LUxfe-41House Bill 129-First Edition General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025 (19) Trigger for matching funds.

In the case of a primary, the trigger equals themaximum qualifyingcontributions forparticipatingforparticipatingcandidates. candidates.

InthecaseIn thecase of a contested general election, the trigger equals the base level of funding available under G.S.

(c) DeterminationofFund Amount.–ByOctober1,2026,andeverytwoyearsthereafter,Amount.–ByOctober1,2026,andeverytwo yearsthereafter, the State Board shall prepare and provide to the Joint Legislative Elections Oversight Committee a report documenting, evaluating, and making recommendations relating to the administration, implementation, and enforcement of this Article.

In the declaration, the candidate shall swear or affirm that only one political committee, identified with its treasurer, shall handle all contributions, expenditures, and obligations for the participating candidate and that the candidate will complycomplywith with the contribution and expenditure limits set forth in subsection (d) of this section and all other requirements set forth in this Article or adopted by the Board.

DRH40102-LUxfe-41House Bill 129-First Edition Page 15 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025 (c) Certification of Candidates.

(4) During the qualifyingqualifyingperiod, period, the candidate maymaycontribute contribute up to one thousand dollars($1,000)ofthatcandidate's ownmoneyto thecampaign.Debt incurred bybythe the candidate for a campaign expenditure shall count toward that limit.

In establishing those guidelines, the Board Page 16 DRH40102-LUxfe-41House Bill 129-First Edition General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025 shall differentiate expenditures that reasonablyreasonablyfurther further a candidate's campaign from expenditures for personal use that would be incurred in the absence of the candidacy.

(6) Any contribution received by a participating or certified candidate that falls outside that permitted bybythis this subsection shall be returned to the donor as soon as practicable.

– Certified candidates shall receive one percent (1%) of the funding to which theywould beeligibleunderbe eligibleunder G.S.

– ByByAugust August 1, 2026, and no less frequently than every two years thereafter, the Board shall determine the amount of funds, rounded to the nearest one hundred dollars ($100.00), to be distributed to certified candidates as follows:

DRH40102-LUxfe-41House Bill 129-First Edition Page 17 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025 (2) Contested primaries.

After the initial 24-hour filing, the noncertified candidate or other reporting entityentityshall shall comply with an expedited reporting schedule.

163-278.121(19), the Board shall issue immediatelyimmediatelyto to that certified candidate an additional amountequaltothereportedexcesswithinthelimitssetforthinthissection."Fundsinopposition to a certified candidate or in support of an opponent to that candidate" shall be equal to the sum of subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection as follows:

Page 18 DRH40102-LUxfe-41House Bill 129-First Edition General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025 a.

– Total matching funds to a certified candidate before the date of the primaryprimaryshall shall be limited to an amount equal to two times the maximum qualifying contributions for the office sought.

DRH40102-LUxfe-41House Bill 129-First Edition Page 19 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025 (g) No Matching Funds for Certain Communications Involving All Candidates.

In addition to any other penalties that maymaybe be applicable, any individual, political committee, or other entity that violates any provision of this Article is subject to a civil penalty of up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per violation or three times the amount of any financial transactions involved in the violation, whichever is greater.

… (c) The fees shall be disbursed bybythe the secretary-treasurer on the order of the Council.

The secretary-treasurer shall annually, at a time and in a law magazine or daily newspaper to be prescribed by the Council, publish an account of the financial transactions of the Council in a form to be prescribed bybyit. it.

The secretary-treasurer shall compile and keep currentlycurrentlycorrect correct from the names and mailing addresses forwarded to the secretary-treasurer and from any other available sources of information a list of members of the North Carolina State Bar and furnish to the clerk of the superior court in each county, not later than the first day of October in each year, a list showing the name and address of each attorney for that county who has not complied with the provisions of this Article.

Thelist submittedto several clerksofclerksofthesuperior thesuperior courtshall also be submittedto theCouncil and it shall take the action thereon that is necessary and proper." SECTION 3.4.

– To ensure the financial viability of the North Carolina Public Campaign Fund established in Article 22D 22I of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes, the Department must allocate to that Fund three dollars ($3.00) from Page 20 DRH40102-LUxfe-41House Bill 129-First Edition General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025 the income taxes paid each year by each individual with an income tax liability of at least that amount, if the individual agrees.

This section applies to Articles and [Article] 22I22Iand and 22M of the General Statutes to the same extent that it applies to this Article." SECTION 3.6.

(2) A candidate may accept, and a familyfamilycontributor contributormaymake may make to that candidate, a contribution not exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000) in an election if the contributor is that candidate's parent, child, brother, or sister.

If any provision of this act is held invalid bybya a court of competent jurisdiction, the invalidityinvaliditydoes does not affect other provisions of the act that can be given effect without the invalid provision.

DRH40102-LUxfe-41House Bill 129-First Edition Page 21