Important Changes Announced for 2016 Primaries

Sunday, October 18, 2015 - 23:57 Press Release

2016 primary election date has been set for March 15, 2016.

North Carolina law has moved the 2016 Primary Election from May to March. In 2016, the election for all seats voted on in the primary will be held on Tuesday, March 15, 2016. With the change in the election date, many other important dates have changed as well.

The candidate filing period will be held starting at Noon on Tuesday, December 1, 2015. The close of filing will be on Monday, December 21, 2015 at Noon. Anyone planning to run for an elected seat in the 2016 election will need to file during this time period.

Absentee Voting by mail will begin on Monday, January 25, 2016.

One Stop Voting will be held from Thursday, March 3, 2016 to Saturday, March 12, 2016. The hours of operation will be approved by NC State Board of Elections in late January.

As the current law states, voters will be required to present a photo ID to vote in any election starting in 2016.