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Ballot Access Laws
Below you will find information about North Carolina's restrictive ballot access laws and some comparisons between the ballot access laws of North Carolina and other states in the Union.
» New Political Party Access to the Ballot
Legal Requirement: Signatures on a petition equal to two percent (2%) of the total vote cast for the office of Governor in the last Gubernatorial Election. At least 200 signatures must be collected from within each of at least four (4) of NC's Congressional Districts.
Ballot Retention Requirement: Party must obtain at least two percent (2%) of the total vote cast for its candidate for Governor in Gubernatorial Election years.
Actual Signature Count: 85,379 min. (2010 & 2012)
Petition Submission Deadlines:
May 17, 2010/2012, 5:00pm (County BOE)
June 1, 2010/2012, Noon (State BOE)
Just How Difficult Is It?
67 signatures/day, 469 signatures/week
Signature from 1 out of every 73 registered voters in NC.
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Compare to Other States: A full 2/3 of all states in the Union (33 states) require no more than 10,000 signatures, and a full 2/3 of those states (22 states) only require either (a) 5,000 or less signatures or (b) some other means of ballot access. Only California requires more signatures for a new political party to obtain ballot access than North Carolina. Colorado, South Carolina and Missiouri require only 10,000 signatures, and Florida, Mississippi and Vermont only require the party to be organized and submit the appropriate certification to the state. According to this, North Carolina requires in excess of 8.5 times as many signatures in 2010 and 2012 as our southern neighbor South Carolina and about half of the the other states in the Union requires.
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Read N.C.G.S. §163-96 on New Political Party Ballot Access
Read N.C.G.S. §163-97 on Termination of Status as Political Party
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What Does the NCFPE Believe?
We believe that access to the election ballot should be free and open to all political persuasions so that diverse viewpoints are present, consisting of a true representation of the people of this great state, and to encourage true competition of ideas in the political arena. North Carolina's discriminatory ballot access laws are unduly restrictive and act to prevent needed and healthy competition of ideas in our electoral system and must be ended. Political parties in North Carolina should not be required to obtain multiple tens of thousands of signatures just to have a place on the ballot and to put forth their candidates. North Carolina should follow suit with states like Florida, Mississippi and Vermont that only require that a political party be organized and file certain documents with the state to be recognized. However, in the short term the NCFPE believes simply lowering the signatures count requirements to more reasonable levels like those of South Carolina's (10,000) or Montana's (5,000) is a start in the right direction, but will fight until the playing field is leveled for all political parties in the State of North Carolina.
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» Unaffiliated Statewide Candidate Access to the Ballot
Legal Requirement: Signatures on a petition equal to two percent (2%) of the total vote cast for the office of Governor in the last Gubernatorial Election. At least 200 signatures must be collected from within each of at least four (4) of NC's Congressional Districts.
Actual Signature Count: 85,379 min. (2010 & 2012)
Petition Submission Deadlines:
June 10, 2010 or June 14, 2012, 5:00pm (County BOE)
June 25, 2010 or June 29, 2012, Noon (State BOE)
Just How Difficult Is It?
65 signatures/day, 454 signatures/week
Signature from 1 out of every 73 registered voters in NC.
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Compare to Other States: At least 72% of the states in the Union (36 states) only require independent candidates to obtain 10,000 or less signatures, and of those states over 80% (29 states) require independents to either (a) gather 5,000 or less signatures or (b) simply pay a filing fee for office. South Carolina, Massachusetts and Missiouri only require independent statewide candidates to obtain 10,000 signatures, while other states such as Kansas, Kentucky and Ohio only require 5,000 signatures. Even more amazing is that Tennessee only independent statewide candidates to obtain 275 signatures to get on the ballot. North Carolina requires over 8.5 times as many signatures than South Carolina, over 17 times as many as Kentucky and over 310 times as many as Tennessee.
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Read N.C.G.S. §163-122(a)(1) on Unaffiliated Statewide Candidate Ballot Access
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What Does the NCFPE Believe?
Just as the State of North Carolina should not interfere with the ability of political parties to be recognized for the ballot with unduly restrictive ballot access laws, the state should also drastically reduce the requirements for unaffiliated (a.k.a. independent) candidates for all offices. Currently in North Carolina, an individual who wishes to run for public office in North Carolina for a statewide office such as Governor or US Senator without any political affiliation must collect the same amount of signatures that an entire political party (composed of a group of individuals) must obtain to gain a place on the election ballot. We believe that NC law is much too restrictive for unaffiliated candidates across the board. We believe that either the signature requirements for ballot access for unaffiliated candidates (1) should be eliminated and candidates simply pay the filing fee for ballot access, or (2) eliminate the filing fee and significantly reduce the number of signatures required. As for Statewide office, we believe that a reasonable requirement would be somewhere between 1,000 to 5,000 signatures, however a lower signature requirement would be more appropriate.
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» Unaffiliated District or County Candidate Access to the Ballot
Legal Requirement: Signatures on a petition equal to four percent (4%) of the total number of registered voters in the district as of January 1 of the election year.
Petition Submission Deadlines for District Office:
June 10, 2010 or June 14, 2012, 5:00pm (County BOE)
161 Days to Petition
June 25, 2010 or June 29, 2012, Noon (State BOE)
165 Days to Petition
Petition Submission Deadlines for County Office:
June 25, 2010 or June 29, 2012, Noon (County BOE)
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Compare to Other States: North Carolina's signature requirement for unaffiliated Congressional candidates is the most restrictive in the nation alongside Georgia and far beyond the rest. Our northern neighbor, Virginia, only requires Congressional candidates to obtain 1,000 signatures, State Senate candidates 250 signatures and less for lower level offices. Tennessee only requires unaffiliated candidates for any office other than President, to obtain 25 signatures and Florida only requires candidates to file and pay the filing fee. North Carolina requires the largest signature count in the nation within 161-165 days the filing fee.
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Signature Counts by Office
The number in parenthesis is the district in which the signature count belongs.
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Read N.C.G.S. §163-122(a)(2) on Unaffiliated District Candidate Ballot Access
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What Does the NCFPE Believe?
We believe that it is shameful that North Carolina has so far removed itself from its heritage of freedom as to become the number one most restrictive state in the nation in regards to its requirements for ballot access for unaffiliated candidates for Congressional office. No other state in the nation requires more signatures from one candidate to appear on the election ballot than North Carolina does in its 4th Congressional District at an astounding 22,544 signatures. Even in lower offices such as NC State Senate, House and even County Commissioner and other offices, candidates must search high and low for signatures and expend large amounts of their valuable campaign time collecting signatures while their "major party" opponents are able to pass them by with no need to gather signatures. We believe that it is necessary that either the signature requirements for ballot access for unaffiliated candidates (1) should be eliminated and candidates simply pay the filing fee for ballot access, or (2) eliminate the filing fee and significantly reduce the number of signatures required. The actual signature requirements if they are kept should be drastically reduced for all offices, no more than 1,000 for US Congress, 300 for NC Senate and less for all other offices.
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» Write-In Candidacy
Legal Requirement: Signatures on a petition as specified by for the specific office.
Actual Signature Requirements:
Statewide Office: 500
District Office: 250
(more than one whole county)
District Office: 100
(one or less than one whole county with at least 5,000 eligible voters)
District Office: Varies (1% of registered voters)
(less than one whole county with less than 5,000 eligible voters)
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Petition Submission Deadlines:
June 10, 2010 or June 14, 2012, 5:00pm (County BOE)
June 25, 2010 or June 29, 2012, Noon (State BOE)
Compare to Other States: Alabama allows the voter to write-in any person not alrady printed on the ballot without the candidate having to file petitions or a declaration of intent as NC requires. Write-in candidates in Deleware only have to file a declaration of intent. North Carolina requires candidates who will not appear on the ballot to obtain signatures and file before the State will allow the votes of citizen's for those candidates to be counted.
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Read N.C.G.S. §163-123 on Write-In Candidates
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What Does the NCFPE Believe?
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Copyright © 2008-2010
North Carolinians for Free and Proper Elections PAC,
All Rights Reserved
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Paid for by the
North Carolinians for Free and Proper Elections
Not Authorized by Any Candidate or Candidate Committee
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