Ballot access requirements for political parties in North Carolina

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Note: This article is not intended to serve as an exhaustive guide to running for public office. Individuals should contact their state election agencies for further information.

Although there are hundreds of political parties in the United States, only certain parties qualify to have the names of their candidates for office printed on election ballots. In order to qualify for ballot placement, a party must meet certain requirements that vary from state to state. For example, in some states, a party may have to file a petition in order to qualify for ballot placement. In other states, a party must organize around a candidate for a specific office; that candidate must, in turn, win a percentage of the vote in order for the party to be granted ballot status. In still other states, an aspiring political party must register a certain number of voters.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • As of May 2024, North Carolina officially recognized five political parties: the Democratic, Green, Libertarian, Republican, and No Labels parties.
  • In some states, a candidate may choose to have a label other than that of an officially recognized party appear alongside his or her name on the ballot. Such labels are called political party designations. North Carolina does not allow candidates to use political party designations.

    • To learn more about ballot access requirements for political candidates in North Carolina, see this article.

    DocumentIcon.jpg See state election laws

    Process for a political party to obtain ballot status

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    DocumentIcon.jpg See statutes: Chapter 163, Article 9, Section 96 of the North Carolina General Statutes

    A political party is defined as either of the following:[1][2]

    1. "Any group of voters which, at the last preceding general State election, polled for its candidate for Governor, or for presidential electors, at least two percent (2%) of the entire vote cast in the State for Governor or for presidential electors." For example, in 2012, 4,468,295 votes were cast for governor. For a newly established political party to maintain its recognized status, its candidate for governor would have had to win at least 89,366 votes
    2. "Any group of voters which shall have filed with the State Board of Elections petitions for the formulation of a new political party which are signed by registered and qualified voters in this State equal in number to one-quarter of one percent (0.25%) of the total number of voters who voted in the most recent general election for Governor. Also the petition must be signed by at least 200 registered voters from each of three congressional districts in North Carolina."
    3. "Any group of voters which shall have filed with the State Board of Elections documentation that the group of voters had a candidate nominated by that group on the general election ballot of at least seventy percent (70%) of the states in the prior Presidential election. To be effective, the group must file their documentation with the State Board of Elections before 12:00 noon on the first day of June preceding the day on which is to be held the first general State election in which the new political party desires to participate."

    Petitions must include the name of the proposed political party. Petitions may be started at any time within a four-year presidential election cycle. After each presidential election, existing petitions for new parties that have not been finalized are voided and must be restarted.[3]

    The proposed party name cannot contain any word that appears in the name of an existing recognized party or any word that may, in the judgment of the state board of elections, suggest similarity to an existing party. Petitions must also include the name and address of the state chairman of the proposed party. Verification of properly submitted petitions will be completed within two weeks of the date petitions are presented.[1]

    In the first general election for which a newly created party qualifies, candidates will be selected by party convention. State law does not mandate standards for party by-laws or practices for political conventions. Such matters are left to the discretion of the parties.[3][4]

    Political parties

    See also: List of political parties in the United States

    As of May 2024, there were five recognized political parties in North Carolina. These are listed in the table below. [5]

    Party Website link By-laws/platform link
    Democratic Party of North Carolina Link Party platform
    North Carolina Green Party Link Party platform
    Libertarian Party of North Carolina Link Bylaws
    No Labels Party Link Party platform
    Republican Party of North Carolina Link Party platform

    Noteworthy events

    2017

    On October 17, 2017, SB 656 became law, enacting a series of changes to North Carolina's ballot access provisions for political parties and unaffiliated political candidates. The bill first cleared the North Carolina State Senate on April 26, 2017. The North Carolina House of Representatives approved an amended version of the bill on June 28, 2017. A conference committee was convened to reconcile differences between the two versions of the bill. The conference committee submitted its report on SB 656 on October 4, 2017. The conference committee version of the bill was approved by the House and Senate on October 5, 2017. Governor Roy Cooper (D) vetoed the bill on October 9, 2017. On October 15, 2017, the Senate voted to override Cooper's veto, and the House followed suit the next day. The law's provisions took effect on January 1, 2018.[2][6][7]

    As enacted, SB 656 provided for the following changes to ballot access law:[2][8][9]

    1. The signature requirement for new political party formation petitions was reduced from 2 percent of the total number of voters who voted in the most recent gubernatorial election to 0.25 percent of that group.
    2. A new means of political party formation was established: A political party may be formed by "any group of voters which shall have filed with the State Board of Elections documentation that the group of voters had a candidate nominated by that group on the general election ballot of at least seventy percent (70%) of the states in the prior Presidential election."
    3. The petition signature requirement for unaffiliated statewide candidates was reduced from 2 percent of the total number of voters who voted in the last gubernatorial election to 1.5 percent of that group. The filing deadline was changed from the second Wednesday prior to the primary election to the day of the primary election.
    4. The petition signature requirement for unaffiliated district candidates (other than state legislative candidates) was reduced from 4 percent of the total number of registered voters in the district to 1.5 percent of that group. The filing deadline was changed from the second Wednesday prior to the primary election to the day of the primary election.
    5. For unaffiliated state legislative candidates, the petition signature requirement was unchanged by the law. The filing deadline was changed from the second Wednesday prior to the primary election to the day of the primary election.

    For the full text of the law as enacted, click here.

    2012

    In the November 6, 2012, general election, the Libertarian Party candidate for governor, Barbara Howe, polled 94,652 out of 4,468,295 votes cast, approximately 2.1 percent of the total number of votes cast.[10] This was sufficient for maintenance of the party's recognized status in the state.[1]

    2008

    In the November 4, 2008, general election, the Libertarian Party candidate for governor, Michael Munger, polled 121,584 out of 4,268,941 votes cast, approximately 2.85 percent of the total number of votes cast.[11] This was sufficient for maintenance of the party's recognized status in the state.[1]

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    See also

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    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 North Carolina General Statutes, "Chapter 163, Article 9, Section 96," accessed December 9, 2013
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 General Assembly of North Carolina, "Senate Bill 656," accessed October 18, 2017
    3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ballotpedia, "Email communication with the North Carolina State Board of Elections," December 2013
    4. ↑ North Carolina General Statutes, "Chapter 163, Article 9, Section 98," accessed December 9, 2013
    5. ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Choosing Your Party Affiliation," accessed May 2, 2024
    6. ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "Senate Bill 656 / S.L. 2017-214," accessed October 18, 2017
    7. ↑ Ballot Access News, "North Carolina Ballot Access Bill Enacted into Law," October 17, 2017
    8. ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "Senate Bill 656 / S.L. 2017-214," accessed October 18, 2017
    9. ↑ Ballot Access News, "North Carolina Ballot Access Bill Enacted into Law," October 17, 2017
    10. ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "2012 General Election Results," accessed December 12, 2013
    11. ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "2008 General Election Results," accessed December 12, 2013
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