A Primary Election is an election held to narrow the number of candidates running for each office down to only one candidate per open seat per party (or a similar legally defined limit for nonpartisan contests, for more on this see the answer to question ‘When are primaries not based on party?’).
For example, if twelve people file to run for US Senate in North Carolina, not all twelve will make it on the ballot for the General Election. Instead, to cut down on the sheer number of choices on each ballot in the General Election, Primary Elections are held as preliminary, party based ‘rounds’ to decide who gets to be each party’s chosen candidate (or candidates) for a contest (or ’rounds’ not based on party to narrow the field to a limit in the case of nonpartisan contests).
Since a contest being included in a primary election is contingent upon there being more than one candidate for one party (or more than a limit of candidates in a nonpartisan contest), it is rare that all contests that will be on the ballot in a November General Election are on all primary ballots. Each party’s ballot in a primary may not have the same contests on it either, for the same reason.
North Carolina primaries are partially closed, meaning that people affiliated with a particular party cannot vote in any other parties’ primaries. However, Unaffiliated voters may choose which party’s primary they wish to vote in. For more on Unaffiliated voters and primaries, see related questions in this section.
Also, uncommonly, a single primary will fail to narrow the field in a contest or a handful of contests to the required number of candidates because the margin of votes between candidates is too close to definitively declare them a particular party’s candidate. In this case, a second Primary can be held by request, featuring just those contests.
Yes, in North Carolina, Unaffiliated voters may vote in a Primary Election, subject to the following conditions:
- An Unaffiliated voter must choose which party’s ballot they will vote in a Primary Election. Once the chosen ballot is cast they cannot vote another party’s ballot in addition to the first one, or invalidate the first ballot in order to vote another party’s ballot.
- If an Unaffiliated voter chose to vote a particular party’s ballot in a Primary Election, there is a Second Primary Election in which they are also eligible to vote in, and they choose to vote in said Second Primary Election, they must vote that same party’s ballot in that Election. This also means that if a Second Primary Election occurs just for contests of one party and an
- Unaffiliated voter has already chosen to vote the opposite party’s ballot, they may NOT vote in that Second Primary.
- Unaffiliated voters may also choose to vote a ballot containing only nonpartisan items, if they are included on a primary ballot. Note that this also will lock them out of voting any particular party’s ballot in any Second Primary, but will still allow them to vote a nonpartisan ballot in the rare (currently impossible in Alamance County) event that there is a Second Primary for nonpartisan offices. Conversely, if an unaffiliated voter did NOT vote in the original Primary Election, they may choose to vote a ballot in a Second Primary of any party affiliation.
Whatever choice an Unaffiliated voter makes for the duration of all Primaries does not apply in associated General or Municipal General Elections, as which ballot a voter gets in those elections is not based on party, but on jurisdiction. For more information on jurisdictional nuances related to Unaffiliated voters voting in a Primary or Second Primary, see below question on different contests for different people.
A registration of Unaffiliated does NOT entitle a voter to vote in a primary or for a contest in a primary that only corresponds to a particular jurisdiction that that voter is not a part of.
Jurisdiction and party requirements for voting in particular contests during Primary Elections are completely separate. If someone who is registered Unaffiliated wishes to vote in a primary on a particular party’s ballot they will receive a ballot containing only that party’s primary contests for the jurisdictions applicable to them.
For example, if three Republican candidates file for NC House District 64 and six file for US Senate in an election, both will be on a Republican primary ballot. However, an Unaffiliated voter living in NC House District 63 who chooses to vote a Republican ballot will receive a ballot that does NOT contain the NC House District 64 contest, because they do not live there. The ballot they receive would be the same ballot someone who was a registered Republican who lives in NC House District 63 would receive.
If someone who is registered Unaffiliated wishes to vote in a primary but there are no contests for their jurisdiction on any party’s ballot or on a nonpartisan ballot, they cannot vote in that primary. For example, an Unaffiliated voter living outside of Burlington city limits would be unable to vote in the Burlington Primary for either party or in nonpartisan contests, because they do not live in Burlington.
This also applies to second primaries. For example, say an Unaffiliated voter living in NC House District 64 voted a Democratic ballot in a Primary Election in which both NC House District 63 and NC House District 64 were on the Democratic primary ballot, receiving a ballot with NC House District 64 included. If a Second Primary is called and the only contest on the Democratic Second Primary ballot is* the NC House District 63 contest, *they cannot vote in that second primary, *because there are no Democratic contests in which they are eligible to vote.*
Yes, all party changes prior to a primary election must be made by the voter registration deadline for that Primary Election.
In is important to note that unlike failing to register prior to the voter registration deadline, if you are already registered prior to a primary and you fail to change your party affiliation prior to the voter registration deadline you will NOT be able to change your party affiliation at Early Voting prior to a primary in order to vote in the primary with the new affiliation.
This restriction also applies to Second Primaries. The party affiliation a voter was registered as at the time of the registration deadline for the initial primary cannot be changed for the Second Primary.
In North Carolina, only certain municipal primaries are nonpartisan. For example, in Alamance County, there can be a Burlington Primary prior to the Municipal General Election if there are more candidates filed for Mayor or City Council than a legally defined threshold.
In the case of these primaries, all registered voters residing within the city limits of the associated municipality may vote. In Alamance County, this would be Burlington voters.
‘Municipality’ is a blanket term for the smallest unit of corporate, partially self-governing geographic area in the United States. Common descriptive terms for municipalities can differ by region, general size, or arbitrary decision but the approved ones in North Carolina are ‘city’, ‘town’, and ‘village’. Elections at this level are officially called ‘municipal elections’, but can also commonly be referred to as ‘local’ elections.
Municipalities have the widest variation in how they conduct their elections across the United States. This is because they often have far less total population than larger self-governing areas and therefore can afford more experimentation and flexibility with how votes are collected, within the boundaries of state and federal law as well as the boundaries of what those administering said elections are capable of functionally and monetarily. In North Carolina, municipal elections are administered at a county level.
In Alamance County, there are currently ten municipalities: the Village of Alamance, the City of Burlington, the City of Graham, the City of Mebane, the Town of Elon, the Town of Gibsonville, the Town of Green Level, the Town of Haw River, the Town of Swepsonville, and the Town of Ossipee.
Unlike larger self-governing jurisdictions, there is no guarantee at this smallest level that every person actually lives in a municipality. Boundaries do not overlap, but they also do not cover the entirety of all counties. For example, only slightly over 50% of Alamance County’s registered voters actually live in a municipality. A good way to know municipal boundaries in this county is to visit Alamance County GIS’ Interactive Map. The colored areas on the map are the areas covered by municipalities. Any area outside those zones is not part of any municipality.
In order to vote in a municipal election you have to reside permanently within the bounds of one of these municipalities. There are a few confusing aspects to this involving cities listed in mailing addresses and bill payment; for more details see question “Why was I told I cannot vote in a Burlington Primary or Municipal Election if my address is in Burlington, and/or I pay city utilities?”.
Many municipalities cross county lines. In Alamance County, most of the municipalities of Burlington, Gibsonville, and Mebane are in Alamance County, but some of their municipal boundaries cross into Guilford or Orange counties, respectively.
Because the smallest level of election administration is the county level in North Carolina, municipal results are collected by county. How this came about historically in our state is too convoluted to explain in detail here, but the short version is that because determination of eligibility to vote is acquired and verified through a registration system (originally paper and later electronic) based on precincts and divided by county, associated law has developed such that only the office of the county in which you live has the means with which to legally verify your residency and registration for the purpose of voting.
Hence, all voting related actions you take must be done with the office of the county you reside in, including casting a ballot, because personnel in the office of a county you do not live in have no legal basis with which to validate your eligibility to vote.
Eligibility to vote in a municipality is based on the incorporated boundaries of said municipality. Postal addresses are based on a separate (nationwide) system designed for mail delivery, not around municipal boundaries, therefore you can have an address listed as being in a city without actually living in the municipality.
A postal address must include a city, despite not every residential address actually being a part of one. Hence, postal addresses retain their own geographic areas referred to as ‘cities’, that may or may not be actual municipalities, in order to ensure all addresses used for delivering mail have an associated ‘city’. These ‘cities’, even if they share a name with a municipality, are never fully congruous with municipal boundaries, and actually refer to the name of the post office to which mail destined for a particular postal address is associated with.
For example, most people living in the municipality of Swepsonville actually have a Graham, NC address, as the postal version of ‘Graham’ extends well into the Swepsonville municipality, and is served by the Graham Post Office. But if they were to vote in a municipal election, they would receive a Swepsonville ballot, not a Graham one, because they don’t actually live within the municipal boundaries of Graham, they live in Swepsonville, a separate municipality.
Often, people will tell you that the way to know if you actually live in a municipality or not is that if you pay taxes to the city, you live in the municipality, and if you don’t, then you don’t. What people fail to mention when using that explanation is that by ‘taxes’ they mean property taxes. Utilities, trash payments, and (depending on municipal law) certain types of purchases include taxes that are paid to a municipality, but are part of payments for services rendered by the municipality. You may pay Burlington utilities because they are the closest source of water to your residence, but not actually live in the Burlington municipality.
Another issue with the property taxes explanation is that requiring someone to own property to vote in any election is illegal and unconstitutional at a Federal and State level. Paying property taxes to a city is just an indication that you do in fact live within the boundaries of the city, not a requirement for voting in a municipality. It is also possible to live in an apartment or rental property within the boundaries of Burlington, and you can vote if that is the case for you, but in that case you wouldn’t be paying property taxes.
Ultimately residential eligibility for voting in a municipal election all comes down to your permanent residence’s actual geographic location, which is determined through GIS mapping. If a Board of Elections office tells you that you cannot vote in a municipality, that determination is based on the physical location of your residential address.
As always, if you believe there has been a mistake and you do in fact live in a municipality, you are welcome to vote a provisional ballot if this determination will otherwise prevent you from voting at a polling place.
