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Voter Guide

2012 General Election Voter Guide

Frequently Asked Questions

1.  Why are there only judicial candidates for the North Carolina Supreme Court and Court of Appeals in this Voter Guide and not judicial candidates for Superior and District court?  The General Assembly authorized only candidates for the NC Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals to be placed in this Voter Guide. 

2.  I can’t find the political party affiliation of the judicial candidates listed in the voter guide.  All judges in North Carolina are elected on a non-partisan basis.  They do not file or run as a nominee of a political party.  They are not listed on the ballot with a party affiliation.  Thus the judicial candidates are presented in the Voter Guide in a non-partisan manner.

3.  Why are there only three Council of State offices listed in the voter guide?  The General Assembly authorized only three Council of State offices, the State Auditor, Commissioner of Insurance and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to participate in the public financing program.  (Council of State offices are elected every year in which a Presidential election is held.)   The state offers a form of  public campaign financing for candidates in these election races and a Voter Guide to be produced for these candidates. Since these elections are partisan, party affiliation is listed.

4.  Are we spending GENERAL FUND tax revenue to produce this Voter Guide?  No.  Currently this Voter Guide is funded by financial reserves in addition to $3 taxpayer check offs on North Carolina personal income tax returns and a mandatory $50 surcharge on the annual State Bar fees for attorneys are funding the Voter Guide. 

I M P O R T A N T   V O T I N G   I N S T R U C T I O N S

A “straight party” vote does not include the office of President/Vice President or any nonpartisan race or issue:
•  You must vote for President/Vice President separately from the other offices.  
•  Nonpartisan offices and issues also must be voted separately.
More detailed instructions are on your ballot.  For paper ballots, be sure to turn the ballot over because there are contests on the back of the ballot.

What Constitutes A Vote

Pursuant to Section 301 (a)(6) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, codified as 42 U.S.C. § 15481(a)(6), and N.C.G.S. § 163-182.1(b), the State Board of Elections has developed these standards and procedures to define what is a vote and when that vote should be counted in circumstances in which voting systems are unable to determine the voter’s intent with respect to a marked ballot. For more information please read:
Standards for Determining What Constitutes a Vote And What Will Be Counted As a Vote.