Types of Elections

Primary Elections

The primary is held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in March in even-numbered years. The purpose of a primary is to narrow the field of candidates for the General Election.  

Example:  If there are 2 Republican candidates and 1 Democrat candidate for a county commissioner seat, the primary determines the Republican candidate for the general election. If only 1 Democrat candidate filed for office, they become the party's nominee without a primary. Thus, not all offices up for election this year may appear on primary ballots. Primary ballots feature candidates from a single political party.

  • Primary ballots only contain candidates from one political party. 
  • A candidate must have been affiliated with that party for at least 90 days as of the date the person files the notice of candidacy.
  • In a primary, voters affiliated with a political party may only vote their party’s ballot and may not vote in another party’s primary. For example, a registered Republican may only vote in the Republican Party primary. Unaffiliated voters may choose the Democratic, Libertarian, Republican, or nonpartisan ballot in a primary election. A nonpartisan ballot would only be available if there were a referendum item on the primary ballot.  The Green Party and the No Labels Party have not opened their primaries to unaffiliated voters.
  • 17-year-olds can vote in a primary if they will be 18 by the date of the General Election.  The reason for this is that a primary is a nomination process - you are not electing anyone to office.  
  • If the number of candidates that file equals the number of seats to be filled, then a candidate is declared their party's nominee without a primary. Their name will automatically be placed on the General Election ballot.

Unaffiliated Candidates

Any qualified voter may seek nomination as an unaffiliated candidate.  This involves a petition process where the petitioner will collect a required number of signatures based on the office they are seeking.  An individual who successfully qualifies as an unaffiliated candidate will be listed on the ballot for the general election.

Second Primary

The runner-up candidate in a primary can request a second primary election if no candidate earns more than 30% of the vote.

General Elections

In even-numbered years a general election is held to elect candidates to office on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November. 

In a general election, voters may vote for the candidate(s) of their choice, regardless of party. North Carolina does not allow straight-ticket voting (also called straight-party voting).

Municipal Elections

Municipal elections in Brunswick County are held in odd-numbered years on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November. All of the municipal elections in Brunswick County are nonpartisan and decided by simple plurality, i.e. the candidate(s) with the most votes wins. There are no municipal primaries or municipal runoff elections in Brunswick County.

To be eligible to vote in a municipal election, the voter must live in that municipality for at least 30 days before Election Day. Section 2 of the NC Constitution provides that you must reside in an election district for 30 days preceding an election to be entitled to vote. Because those in unincorporated areas do not reside in a municipal district, they are not eligible to vote in that district.