//Run for office · North Carolina

How to run for local office in North Carolina

North Carolina gives every campaign the full statewide voter file, vote history and a daily absentee and early-voting file for free, so a town council race can run on the same data as a Senate race.

Facts checked against official sources · September 9, 2026

North Carolina elects city and town boards in odd-numbered years under a two-week July filing window and a November election, all run by the 100 county boards of elections. County commissioners, sheriffs and most school boards run on the even-year state calendar with a December filing period and a March primary. Whatever you run for, you file your notice of candidacy, your fee and your campaign finance reports at the county board, not in Raleigh.

The State Board of Elections publishes the whole registration file and the whole vote-history file as free weekly downloads, and during every election it posts a daily absentee file that records each mail-ballot request and each in-person early vote by NCID. Same-day registration during early voting, no-excuse mail voting and a 17-day early-voting period mean a large share of ballots are cast before election day, so the daily file is your most important list.

Election authority: North Carolina State Board of Elections
Voter file: Public record — anyone can obtain it · Free. The statewide and county registration files (ncvoter) and vote-history files (ncvhis) are downloaded at no charge from the State Board's data site. A county board may charge actual cost plus up to a $25 service fee if you ask it for media instead (G.S. 163-82.10(c)).
Campaign finance: State Board campaign finance e-filing software (required once cumulative activity passes $10,000) (North Carolina State Board of Elections, Campaign Finance)
How voters vote: In person, with no-excuse mail voting
Registration deadline: 25 days before the election, by mail postmark or by 5 p.m. in person at the county board (G.S. 163-82.6). Miss it and you can still register and vote in person at any early-voting site in your county, but not on election day.
Local offices: Most municipal elections are nonpartisan; each city's charter picks one of four methods (partisan primary and election; nonpartisan primary; nonpartisan election with runoff; nonpartisan plurality). County commissioners, sheriffs, clerks of court and registers of deeds are partisan with a March primary. Boards of education are nonpartisan by default (G.S. 115C-37), but many counties have local acts making them partisan; the county board tells you which.

Who runs elections in North Carolina

North Carolina State Board of Elections The State Board oversees the 100 county boards, publishes the statewide voter registration, voter history and absentee data files, sets contribution limits and campaign finance rules, and approves each county's early-voting plan. As a municipal or county candidate you file with your county board of elections; you use the State Board's site for data downloads, the candidate filing calendar, filing fees, and the campaign finance manuals, forms and reporting schedules.

North Carolina has 100 county boards of elections, one per county, each with five members appointed by the State Board (two Democrats, two Republicans) and a chair appointed by the State Auditor, plus a professional director. County boards register voters, run early-voting sites and election-day precincts, accept notices of candidacy and filing fees for municipal and county offices, receive the campaign finance reports of municipal and county committees, and canvass results. Municipalities do not run their own elections: the county board conducts them under G.S. 163-279 and Article 24 of Chapter 163.

Getting the North Carolina voter file

The voter file is the list of every registered voter, with the fields a campaign needs to target: address, party where the state records it, and vote history. In North Carolina it comes from North Carolina State Board of Elections (public data downloads).

Access: Public record — anyone can obtain it
Cost: Free. The statewide and county registration files (ncvoter) and vote-history files (ncvhis) are downloaded at no charge from the State Board's data site. A county board may charge actual cost plus up to a $25 service fee if you ask it for media instead (G.S. 163-82.10(c)).
Format: Zipped tab-delimited text: ncvoter_Statewide.zip (one row per voter, more than 60 columns) and ncvhis_Statewide.zip (one row per voter per election), plus one file per county. The two link on NCID or on county plus voter registration number. Layout files are posted alongside.
Vote history: Included
Phone numbers: Included where on file
Updated: Weekly. The State Board regenerates the files every Sunday evening as a point-in-time snapshot; removed voters whose last vote is more than ten years old are dropped from the snapshot.

Who can get it: Anyone. The files are posted for open download with no request form, no fee and no eligibility test. County boards must also provide their registration data on electronic media on request (G.S. 163-82.10(c)).

Permitted use: Voter registration records are public records under G.S. 163-82.10. The statute keeps the confidential fields (birthdate, Social Security and driver license numbers, email addresses, ID photos) out of the file but does not restrict how the public fields are used.

County option: Not necessary: the statewide download already includes one zip per county. County boards will still fill a data request under G.S. 163-82.10(c) at actual cost plus up to $25 if you want a custom cut or a certified copy.

Registration columns include county, voter registration number, NCID, name, residence and mailing address, full_phone_number where the voter supplied one, registration date, race, ethnicity, party, gender, birth_year and age_at_year_end, status and reason codes, precinct, municipality, ward, and the congressional, judicial, state Senate and House, county commission, township, school, fire, water, sewer and sanitary district codes (State Board layout, February 2026).
Birthdate, Social Security number, driver license number, email address and voter ID photos are confidential under G.S. 163-82.10(a1) and are not in the file; birth year and age are.
The State Board also archives voter registration snapshots taken on election day and on January 1 each year, so you can rebuild a district's roll as of a past election.

Whatever file you get, Culper imports it as a CSV and maps the columns for you. See how to read a voter file for what the fields mean.

Filing to run for local office in North Carolina

You get on a North Carolina municipal ballot by filing a notice of candidacy at the county board of elections during a two-week window in July of the election year and paying a fee the town sets at no more than 1 percent of the office's salary, or by filing a petition in lieu of the fee. There is no signature requirement otherwise. Only registered voters of the municipality may file. County offices use the even-year December filing period and the March primary.

File with: The county board of elections for the county where the municipality (or county office) lies. State Board staff do not accept municipal or county filings.
Filing fee: Municipal offices: set by the town's governing board before filing opens, at not less than $5 and not more than 1 percent of the office's annual salary (G.S. 163-294.2 for nonpartisan cities; G.S. 163-291(3) for partisan cities). County offices: 1 percent of the annual salary (G.S. 163-107); the State Board posts each cycle's dollar amounts for state offices and county boards post the local ones.
Petition: In lieu of the fee. Nonpartisan municipal election: a petition signed by 5 percent of the registered voters in the election area, filed with the county board no later than 60 days before the filing deadline (G.S. 163-107.1(d)). Partisan primary (county offices and partisan cities): 5 percent of the area's registered voters affiliated with your party, or at least 200 registered voters of any party, whichever is greater, filed by noon on the Monday before the filing deadline (G.S. 163-107.1(c)).
Partisan?: Most municipal elections are nonpartisan; each city's charter picks one of four methods (partisan primary and election; nonpartisan primary; nonpartisan election with runoff; nonpartisan plurality). County commissioners, sheriffs, clerks of court and registers of deeds are partisan with a March primary. Boards of education are nonpartisan by default (G.S. 115C-37), but many counties have local acts making them partisan; the county board tells you which.

Filing window: Municipal (odd years): noon on the first Friday in July through noon on the third Friday in July before the election (G.S. 163-294.2(c); G.S. 163-291(2) for partisan cities), unless a charter or session law says otherwise. When the first Friday is a holiday the county boards open the following Monday, as they did on July 7, 2025. For 2027 the window is Friday, July 2 to Friday, July 16, 2027. County offices (even years): noon on the first Monday in December through noon on the third Friday in December before the March primary (G.S. 163-106.2), so December 6 to 17, 2027 for the 2028 primary.

Key North Carolina dates
What	When	Note
Petition in lieu of filing fee, nonpartisan municipal offices	May 17, 2027	No later than 60 days before the July 16 filing deadline (G.S. 163-107.1(d)); signatures of 5 percent of registered voters in the election area.
Municipal filing opens, 2027 odd-year municipal elections	July 2, 2027	Noon on the first Friday in July (G.S. 163-294.2(c); 163-291(2)). Charters and session laws can vary the window; confirm with your county board.
Municipal filing closes	July 16, 2027	Noon on the third Friday in July.
Voter registration deadline, November 2, 2027 municipal election	October 8, 2027	25 days before the election (G.S. 163-82.6). After this date you can still register and vote at any early-voting site in your county.
Early voting begins	October 14, 2027	Third Thursday before the election (G.S. 163-166.40); sites and hours come from each county board's plan.
Absentee ballot request deadline	October 19, 2027	5 p.m. on the second Tuesday before the election (G.S. 163-230.1).
Early voting ends	October 30, 2027	3 p.m. on the last Saturday before the election (G.S. 163-166.40).
Municipal election day, odd-year cities	November 2, 2027	Tuesday after the first Monday in November (G.S. 163-279). Nonpartisan primaries, where a charter uses them, fall on the fourth Tuesday before: October 5, 2027.
County office filing for the 2028 primary opens	December 6, 2027	Noon on the first Monday in December through noon on the third Friday in December (December 17, 2027), G.S. 163-106.2.

Campaign finance rules in North Carolina

State-level campaign finance in North Carolina is overseen by North Carolina State Board of Elections, Campaign Finance through State Board campaign finance e-filing software (required once cumulative activity passes $10,000).

Where local candidates file: Municipal and county candidate committees file their Organizational Report and every disclosure report with the county board of elections (G.S. 163-278.9; for municipal reporting, G.S. 163-278.40 defines 'board' as the county board). Candidates for Council of State, General Assembly and judicial offices file with the State Board. File the Organizational Report within 10 days of organizing or of filing your notice of candidacy, whichever comes first. County, municipal, school board and soil and water district committees that certify they will neither raise nor spend more than $1,000 (Certification of Threshold, filed with the Organizational Report) skip the periodic reports. Once cumulative contributions, loans or expenditures for the election cycle pass $10,000, you must file electronically with the State Board's software.

Contribution limits: $6,800 per contributor per election for the 2025 to 2026 cycle, for every candidate in the state including city council, county commission and school board (G.S. 163-278.13; State Board notice of December 31, 2024). A primary and a general are separate elections, so a donor may give $6,800 before the primary and another $6,800 after it. The State Board recalculates the limit against the Consumer Price Index every even year and the new figure takes effect January 1 of the odd year, so expect a new limit on January 1, 2027 for the 2027 municipal cycle. Party executive committees are exempt from the cap.

Reporting: Municipal committees follow one of four schedules depending on the city's election method (partisan, nonpartisan with runoff, nonpartisan with primary, nonpartisan plurality; G.S. 163-278.40B through 163-278.40E): Organizational Report, a mid-year semiannual, a 35-day pre-election report, a pre-primary report where there is a primary, a pre-election report and a year-end semiannual. Your county board tells you which schedule applies. County-office committees use the state and county schedule tied to the March primary and November general.

The State Board's posted municipal reporting schedule covers the 2025 odd-year elections and continues into 2026; the 2027 schedule will be posted before filing opens in July 2027.

Limits and thresholds change. Treat the figures here as a starting point and confirm the current schedule with North Carolina State Board of Elections, Campaign Finance before you accept a check. Our campaign finance basics guide covers the bookkeeping every local candidate needs on day one.

How voting works in North Carolina

In person, with no-excuse mail voting. North Carolina voters can vote by mail without an excuse, vote early in person at any early-voting site in their county for 17 days (with same-day registration), or vote at their precinct on election day. Photo ID is required at check-in and a copy is required with a mail ballot. A large share of the vote is banked before election day, and every one of those ballots appears in the daily absentee file.

Early voting: In-person early voting runs from the third Thursday before the election to 3 p.m. on the last Saturday before it (G.S. 163-166.40), with mandatory hours of 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on that final Saturday. Voters may use any early-voting site in their county, and unregistered residents may register and vote there the same day. The same statute governs municipal elections; each county board adopts an early-voting plan for each election.
Mail ballots: No excuse required. Request through the State Board's online absentee portal or the paper request form; the county board must receive the request by 5 p.m. on the second Tuesday before the election, two weeks out (G.S. 163-230.1). Ballots are tracked through BallotTrax and must be returned by 7:30 p.m. on election day.
Registration deadline: 25 days before the election, by mail postmark or by 5 p.m. in person at the county board (G.S. 163-82.6). Miss it and you can still register and vote in person at any early-voting site in your county, but not on election day.
Same-day registration: Yes

Knowing who has already voted: The State Board's absentee data files. From the day ballots are first mailed, the State Board posts a daily zip (absentee_YYYYMMDD.zip, statewide and by county) listing every absentee-by-mail request and its status by NCID, and once early voting starts, every in-person early vote is added the day after it is cast. Match on NCID to your voter file, mark those voters as voted, and re-pull each morning. County boards also produce their own early-voting rosters, but the State Board file is free, statewide and consistent.

Local government in North Carolina: what you can run for

100 counties governed by elected boards of commissioners, 552 municipal governments (cities, towns and villages, most under the council-manager form) and 313 special districts, per the 2022 Census of Governments. Townships exist only as geographic subdivisions. Public school systems are county or city units with their own elected boards; the Census counts them as dependent rather than independent districts. Municipal powers, election methods and election years come from general law and from local acts of the General Assembly, which is why filing windows, partisanship and even election years vary city to city.

City or town council / board of aldermen
Mayor
County commissioner
Board of education member
Sheriff
Register of deeds
Clerk of superior court
Soil and water conservation district supervisor
Sanitary district or fire district board member

When local elections happen: Municipal elections are held in odd-numbered years on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, with partisan primaries on the second Tuesday after Labor Day and nonpartisan primaries on the fourth Tuesday before the election; charters may set two- or four-year cycles and a few cities elect in even years by local act (G.S. 163-279). County commissioners, sheriffs and most boards of education are elected in even years, boards of education at the March primary by default (G.S. 115C-37), with filing the preceding December. 2027 is a municipal election year across the state.

Running your North Carolina campaign on Culper

Culper does not license voter data in North Carolina today. You upload the North Carolina voter file described above as a CSV, and every feature runs on it: search and lists, plain-English queries, texting and email, block walking, and volunteer coordination. Online donation processing is in development; ask about timing on the onboarding call. Your file stays in your campaign's workspace and is never shared with another campaign.

Set up your North Carolina campaign in an afternoon

Upload the voter file, ask for your first list in plain English, and hand your volunteers the walking app. Signup is open to candidates in every state. Pricing is set after a short call so it matches the size of the race.

Get started Book a demo

North Carolina questions we get asked

Is the North Carolina voter file really free, and what does it include?

Yes. The State Board of Elections posts the statewide and county registration files and the vote-history files for anyone to download at no charge, refreshed every Sunday evening. The registration file has name, address, phone where supplied, party, race, gender, birth year and age, registration date, status, precinct, municipality, ward and every district; the history file has one row per voter per election. Birthdate, Social Security and driver license numbers and email are confidential and excluded (G.S. 163-82.10).

Where does a city council candidate in North Carolina file, and when?

At your county board of elections, between noon on the first Friday in July and noon on the third Friday in July of the odd election year (G.S. 163-294.2(c)): July 2 to July 16, 2027. You bring a notice of candidacy and the filing fee your town set (between $5 and 1 percent of the office's salary), or a petition signed by 5 percent of the area's registered voters filed 60 days before the deadline. Only registered voters of the municipality may file.

What is the contribution limit for a North Carolina town council or school board race?

$6,800 per contributor per election in the 2025 to 2026 cycle, the same limit that applies to every candidate in North Carolina (G.S. 163-278.13). The primary and general are separate elections. The State Board adjusts the figure for inflation every two years, with the next change taking effect January 1, 2027, so check the State Board's campaign finance page before your first fundraiser for a 2027 municipal race.

How do I know who has already voted during North Carolina early voting?

Download the State Board's daily absentee file. It starts the day mail ballots go out, adds each in-person early vote the day after it is cast, and lists every record by NCID with its status, statewide and by county. Join it to the free voter file on NCID and you have a current list of who is done. It is free and updates every morning through election day.

Do I need signatures to run for local office in North Carolina?

No. A North Carolina notice of candidacy plus the filing fee is enough. Signatures come in only if you want to skip the fee: 5 percent of the registered voters of the election area for a nonpartisan election, or 5 percent of your party's registered voters (or 200 voters of any party, whichever is greater) for a partisan primary (G.S. 163-107.1).

Can a voter register and vote on the same day in North Carolina?

Yes, at any early-voting site in the voter's county during the early-voting period, which runs from the third Thursday before the election to 3 p.m. on the last Saturday before it. The regular registration deadline is 25 days before the election (G.S. 163-82.6), and there is no same-day registration on election day itself. For a North Carolina municipal race, that makes early voting the place to register new supporters.

Which North Carolina local elections are partisan?

County commissioner, sheriff, clerk of superior court and register of deeds are partisan, with a March primary in even years. Municipal elections follow the city charter, and most North Carolina cities are nonpartisan; a partisan city holds its primary on the second Tuesday after Labor Day (G.S. 163-279, 163-291). Boards of education are nonpartisan by default (G.S. 115C-37) but many counties have switched to partisan boards by local act.

Keep reading

Sources

Facts on this page were checked against the official sources below on September 9, 2026. Rules change between cycles; when a number here and the agency disagree, the agency is right.