§ 163‑294.2.  Notice of candidacy and filing fee in nonpartisan municipal elections.
(a)	Each person offering himself as a candidate for election to any municipal office in municipalities whose elections are nonpartisan shall do so by filing a notice of candidacy with the board of elections in the following form, inserting the words in parentheses when appropriate:
"Date ______;
I hereby file notice that I am a candidate for election to the office of ______   (at large) (for the ______ Ward) in the regular municipal election to be held in ________ on ____, ____
(municipality)
Signed ___________
(Name of Candidate)
Witness: _______
For the Board of Elections"
The notice of candidacy shall be either signed in the presence of the chairman or secretary of the board of elections or the director of elections of that county, or signed and acknowledged before an officer authorized to take acknowledgments who shall certify the notice under seal. An acknowledged and certified notice may be mailed to the board of elections. The candidate shall sign the notice of candidacy with his legal name and, in his discretion, any nickname by which he is commonly known, in the form that he wishes it to appear upon the ballot but substantially as follows: "Richard D. (Dick) Roc." A candidate may also, in lieu of his legal first name and legal middle initial or middle name (if any) sign his nickname, provided that he appends to the notice of candidacy an affidavit that he has been commonly known by that nickname for at least five years prior to the date of making the affidavit, and notwithstanding the previous sentence, if the candidate has used his nickname in lieu of first and middle names as permitted by this sentence, unless another candidate for the same office who files a notice of candidacy has the same last name, the nickname shall be printed on the ballot immediately before the candidate's surname but shall not be enclosed by parentheses. If another candidate for the same office who filed a notice of candidacy has the same last name, then the candidate's name shall be printed on the ballot in accordance with the next sentence of this subsection. The candidate shall also include with the affidavit the way his name (as permitted by law) should be listed on the ballot if another candidate with the same last name files a notice of candidacy for that office.
(b)	Only persons who are registered to vote in the municipality shall be permitted to file notice of candidacy for election to municipal office. The board of elections shall inspect the voter registration lists immediately upon receipt of the notice of candidacy and shall cancel the notice of candidacy of any candidate who is not eligible to vote in the election. The board shall give notice of cancellation to any candidate whose notice of candidacy has been cancelled under this subsection by mail or by having the notice served on him by the county sheriff.
(c)	Candidates seeking municipal office shall file their notices of candidacy with the board of elections no earlier than 12:00 noon on the first Friday in July and no later than 12:00 noon on the third Friday in July preceding the election, except:
(1)	In the year following a federal decennial census, candidates seeking municipal office in any city which elects members of its governing board on a district basis, or requires that candidates reside in a district in order to run, shall file their notices of candidacy with the board of elections no earlier than 12:00 noon on the fourth Monday in July and no later than 12:00 noon on the second Friday in August preceding the election; and
(2)	In the second year following a federal decennial census, if the election is held then under G.S. 160A‑23.1, candidates seeking municipal office shall file their notices of candidacy with the board of elections at the same time as notices of candidacy for county officers are required to be filed under G.S. 163‑106.
Notices of candidacy which are mailed must be received by the board of elections before the filing deadline regardless of the time they were deposited in the mails.
(d)	Any person may withdraw his notice of candidacy at any time prior to the close of business on the third business day prior to the filing deadline prescribed in subsection (c), and shall be entitled to a refund of his filing fee if he does so.
(e)	The filing fee for the primary or election shall be fixed by the governing board not later than the day before candidates are permitted to begin filing notices of candidacy. There shall be a minimum filing fee of five dollars ($5.00). The governing board shall have the authority to set the filing fee at not less than five dollars ($5.00) nor more than one percent (1%) of the annual salary of the office sought unless one percent (1%) of the annual salary of the office sought is less than five dollars ($5.00), in which case the minimum filing fee of five dollars ($5.00) will be charged. The fee shall be paid to the board of elections at the time notice of candidacy is filed.
(f)	No person may file a notice of candidacy for more than one municipal office at the same election. If a person has filed a notice of candidacy for one office with the board of elections under this section, then a notice of candidacy may not later be filed for any other municipal office for the election unless the notice of candidacy for the first office is withdrawn first.  (1971, c. 835, s. 1; 1973, c. 870, s. 2; 1975, c. 370, s. 2; 1977, c. 265, s. 18; 1981, c. 32, s. 3; 1983, c. 330, s. 3; c. 644, ss. 1, 2; 1985, c. 472, s. 5; c. 558, s. 3; c. 599, s. 1; 1989 (Reg. Sess., 1990), c. 1012, s. 4; 1995, c. 243, s. 1; 1999‑227, s. 6; 1999‑456, s. 59; 2006‑192, s. 5; 2009‑414, s. 3; 2013‑381, s. 21.2; 2017‑6, s. 3; 2018‑146, s. 3.1(a), (b).)