Under Chapter 387 of the 1985 NC Session Laws, how many special registration commissioners must a county appoint, and is the per-party cap a combined or separate limit for Democrats and Republicans?
Plain-English summary
The 1985 session of the General Assembly enacted Chapter 387 (Senate Bill 471), setting up a system of "special registration commissioners," volunteers in each county authorized to register new voters outside the county elections office. The statute let the chair of each of the two major parties in the county recommend names to the board of elections, which had to appoint them.
The cap was phrased in a single sentence that could be read two ways. Read narrowly, it set a total cap of 100 commissioners per county. Read more naturally, it set a 100-commissioner cap for each party, doubling the total possible commissioners.
Assistant Attorney General Jim Wallace concluded the cap operated per party. The statute said the chair of each of the two parties "may, from time to time, until the maximum number of special registration commissioners allowed by this sentence are appointed, recommend voters ... in a number not to exceed" one per 2,500 residents, with a floor of five and ceiling of 100. The emphasized "each" carried the analysis: each chair had a separate quota.
The opinion gave three worked examples for the state board to use:
- A county of 25,000 residents would have up to 10 from each party (25,000 ÷ 2,500), for a total of 20.
- A county of 13,000 residents would hit the floor of 5 from each party (because 13,000 ÷ 2,500 = 5.2, but rounded down), for a total of 10.
- A county of 300,000 residents would hit the ceiling of 100 from each party (because 300,000 ÷ 2,500 = 120, but capped at 100), for a total of 200.
The county board of elections retained discretion to appoint additional commissioners beyond what the parties recommended; the statute set a mandatory floor on appointments, not a cap on the board.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1985. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here. The special registration commissioner system has been substantially modified since 1985, including changes to the role of party chairs, the registration mechanisms available (motor-voter registration, online registration, same-day registration), and the structure of voter-registration outreach. The 2:5:100 quota structure from 1985 Ch. 387 is unlikely to be the current law verbatim. The North Carolina State Board of Elections is the authoritative source for current rules.
Background and statutory framework
Before the rise of motor-voter registration in the 1990s and online registration in the 2010s, special registration commissioners were a meaningful part of how voters got onto the rolls. They were authorized by statute to take voter-registration applications at sites away from the board of elections office: at parties, at churches, at workplaces, at events. The General Assembly's 1985 statute expanded the corps of these volunteers by setting a minimum number per county pegged to population.
The bipartisan structure (each major party gets to recommend) was deliberate. The General Assembly did not want one party to dominate voter-registration outreach in a county, so it split the recommendation power down the middle. The floor of five was meant to ensure that even tiny counties had a functional registration-outreach corps; the ceiling of 100 was meant to prevent extremely large counties from having unwieldy numbers of commissioners.
The reading the AG adopted, separate per-party quotas, made the bipartisan-balance design effective. If the cap had been combined, one party in a competitive county could have used up most of the slots and crowded out the other. The per-party reading kept the parties on equal footing regardless of county size.
Common questions
What if one party's chair recommended fewer names than the maximum?
The county board of elections appointed whoever each chair recommended; if a chair recommended fewer than the cap, the other side did not get extra slots. The cap was a maximum per party, not a target the other party could absorb.
Could the county board of elections refuse to appoint a recommended commissioner?
The opinion described the appointment as required ("required to be appointed"), suggesting the board's role was ministerial once the chair recommended an eligible county resident. Disputes over a particular nominee's eligibility (e.g., not actually a resident of the county) would presumably go through the regular elections-administration channels.
What if the county had more than two political parties?
The 1985 statute identified the two parties "having the greatest voter registration in the State," which at the time were the Democratic and Republican parties. Third parties did not get a recommendation right under Chapter 387.
Did the commissioners have to be even-numbered in some way?
The statute did not require strict equality, just that each major-party chair had access to the same per-party quota. If one chair filled all 100 slots and the other filled only 50, the county would have 150 commissioners with an imbalanced composition.
Source
Citations
- Session Laws 1985, Ch. 387 (Senate Bill 471) (special registration commissioners; appointment)
Original opinion text
Requested By:
Alex K. Brock, Executive Secretary-Director State Board of Elections
Question:
What number of special registration commissioners must be appointed by county boards of elections in order to comply with the provisions of Chapter 387, Session Laws of 1985 (SB 471)
Conclusion:
Each county is required to appoint at least one (1) special registration commissioner per 2,500 residents from each political party (Democrat and Republican). However, no county is required to appoint more than 100 special registration commissioners from each political party, and each county must appoint at least five (5) from each party.
In pertinent part, Chapter 387 provides the following:
"In each county, the county chairman of each of the two political parties having the greatest voter registration in the State may each, from time to time, until the maximum number of special registration commissioners allowed by this sentence are appointed, recommend voters who are eligible and who are residents of the county for appointment as special registration commissioners in a number not to exceed:
(1) One per 2,500 (or major fraction) residents of the county according to the most recent decennial federal census or
(2) Five
which ever is greater, but in no case greater than 100." [Emphasis added.]
You inquire as to whether the total maximum number of special registration commissioners required to be appointed in each county is 100 (or one per 2,500 residents) or whether twice that number is provided for by the statute. The statute clearly provides that each appropriate county party chairman may, over a period of time, until the maximum number authorized is met, recommend the number of persons set out, and that the appointment of those persons is required. Where county populations are sufficiently low, each party chairman may recommend a total of five persons each.
Since Chapter 387 has caused considerable confusion, we provide the following examples:
a) County X has a population of 25,000 people. Therefore, the County Democratic Party Chairman may recommend up to 10 names, and the County Republican Party Chairman may recommend up to 10 names. The total number of commissioners required to be appointed is 20, provided that number is recommended.
b) County Y has a population of 13,000 people. Therefore, the County Democratic Party Chairman may recommend up to 5 names, and the County Republican Party Chairman may recommend up to 5 names. The total number of commissioners required to be appointed is 10, provided that number is recommended.
c) County Z has a population of 300,000. Therefore, the County Democratic Party Chairman may recommend up to 100 names, and the County Republican Party Chairman may recommend up to 100 names. The total number of commissioners required to be appointed is 200, provided that number is recommended.
Of course, county boards of elections may, if they choose, appoint special registration commissioners in numbers exceeding the statute's requirements.
LACY H. THORNBURG
Attorney General
Jim Wallace
Assistant Attorney General