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Candidate Filing Requirements

All Notices of Candidacy for the following offices, together with the proper filing fee, must be in the possession of the State Board of Elections by the required date, to be accepted.

Required For Offices:
  • Governor
  • Lieutenant Governor
  • All State executive officers
  • US Senators
  • US House of Representatives
  • District Attorneys

All Notices of Candidacy for the following offices, together with the proper filing fee, must be in the possession of the County Board of Elections by the required date, to be accepted.

Required For Offices:
  • State Senators
  • State House of Representatives
  • All county offices
Required Filing Periods:

No earlier then 12:00 PM (noon) on the second Monday in February and no later then 12:00 PM (noon) on the last business day in February preceding the primary.

This does not mean in the mail at that time, and all Notices arriving after that time cannot be accepted. The filing fee must be paid with individual check or money order, payable to the "State Board of Elections" or the "______ County Board of Elections". Business or corporate checks are not acceptable.

The Notice of Candidacy must be signed in the presence of the Chairman or Executive Director of the State Board of Elections or a candidate may have his/her signature on the notice of candidacy acknowledged and certified to by any officer authorized to administer an oath. (See N.C.G.S. §163-106.) In signing his/her notice of candidacy the candidate may use a nickname provided the candidate complies with the requirement specified in G.S. §163-106 and G.S. §163-323(a).

No person shall be permitted to file as a candidate of any political party in a party primary when such person, at the time of filing his or her notice of candidacy, is registered on the registration record as an affiliate of a different political party from that party in whose primary he or she is now attempting to file as a candidate. No person registered as “unaffiliated” or without any party affiliation recorded shall be eligible to file as a candidate in a primary. No person who has changed his political party affiliation, as permitted in G.S. §163-82.17, shall be permitted to file as a candidate in the primary of the party to which he changed unless he has been affiliated with the political party in which he seeks to be a candidate for at least 90 days prior to the filing date for the office for which he desires to file his notice of candidacy. G.S. §163-106(b).

Statement of Economic Interest:

Effective January 1, 2008, GS 138A-22 (d) requires candidates for certain offices to file at the time (or within 10 days after filing) and place of their candidate filing, a Statement of Economic Interest. Offices whose candidates must comply:

Legislators – G.S. 138A-3(22):

  • A member or presiding officer of the General Assembly, or a person elected or appointed a member or presiding officer of the General Assembly before taking office.
  • For purposes of GS Chapter 138A, the Lieutenant Governor shall be considered a legislator when presiding over the Senate as President pursuant to Sec. 13 of Article II of the Constitution, and a public servant for all other purposes. G.S. 138A-4.

Judicial Officers – G.S. 138A-3(19):

  • Justices or Judges of the General Court of Justice
    • Supreme Court Justices
    • Court of Appeals Judges
    • Superior Court Judges
    • District Court Judges
  • District Attorneys
  • Clerks of Court
  • Any person elected or appointed to any of these positions prior to taking office

The Following Public Servants – G.S. 138A-3(30):

  • Constitutional Officers of the State, and persons elected or appointed as constitutional officers of the State prior to taking office, (Officers whose offices are established by Article III of the North Carolina Constitution, also known as the "Council of State"):
    • Governor
    • Lt. Governor
    • Secretary of State
    • Auditor
    • Treasurer
    • Superintendent of Public Instruction
    • Attorney General
    • Commissioner of Agriculture & Consumer Services
    • Commissioner of Labor
    • Commissioner of Insurance

File your Statement of Economic Interest (“SEI”). at the same Board of Elections office that you filed for office. A $250 fine can be levied by the State Ethics Commission for failure to file a complete SEI on time. It is a Class 1 misdemeanor to knowingly conceal or fail to disclose information required on the SEI and a Class H felony to disclose false information

Questions concerning a candidate’s obligation to file an SEI should be directed to the State Board of Elections, (919) 733-7173. Questions concerning the completion of the SEI should be directed to the State Ethics Commission, (919) 715-2071.

Note that if you have to file an SEI, you do not have to disclose felony convictions under GS 163-106.