With a bingo ball selection and coin flip, the State Board of Elections on Friday, September 3, randomly determined the order of candidates on the ballot for certain contests this November.
Pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 163-165.6, the State Board is required to randomly determine the order of candidates on the ballot. The ballot order was determined randomly by selecting a ball out of a bingo machine, with the letter on the ball corresponding with the first letter of a candidate’s last name.
Contests affected by the drawing include sanitary district and water district elections in several counties, board of education contests in several counties, and the Dosher Hospital Board of Trustees election in Brunswick County. See below for a full list of contests affected by Friday’s selection.
Candidates whose last names begin with the letter “F” will appear first in the affected contests. A subsequent coin flip determined that additional candidates would follow in alphabetical order as follows: G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z, A, B, C, D, E.
The drawing was streamed live on the State Board’s Facebook page.
In 2021, there are two municipal election dates, based on the type of election used by a municipality:
- Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021
- Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021
Lists of candidates may be found on the State Board of Elections’ website: Candidate Lists.
To see which municipalities have contests, and if they have early voting and absentee-by-mail voting, visit the State Board website: 2021 Municipal Voter Tool.
This ballot order drawing did not affect the order of candidates for regular municipal elections, such as contests for mayor or town council. Under N.C.G.S. § 163-299(c), candidates’ names in those contests are listed in strict alphabetical order, unless the municipal governing body passes a resolution requesting that candidates’ names be rotated on ballots.
Brunswick County:
Brunswick Regional Water and Sewer H2G0 Commissioner
Dosher Hospital Board of Trustees
Southeast Brunswick Sanitary District Commissioner
Buncombe County:
Woodfin Sanitary Water and Sewer District Trustee
Burke County:
Burke County Board of Education Central District
Burke County Board of Education Eastern District
Burke County Board of Education Western District
Catawba County:
Hickory Public Schools Board of Education Ward 01
Hickory Public Schools Board of Education Ward 02
Hickory Public Schools Board of Education Ward 03
Hickory Public Schools Board of Education Ward 05
Newton-Conover Schools Board of Education Conover District
Newton-Conover Schools Board of Education Newton District
Chatham County:
Goldston Gulf Sanitary District Board Member
Cleveland County:
Cleveland County Water Board Commissioner
Cumberland County:
Eastover Sanitary District Board Members
Eastover Sanitary District Board Members (Unexpired Term)
Greene County:
Maury Sanitary Land District Board Member
Guilford County:
Sedgefield Sanitary District Board of Directors
Halifax County:
Roanoke Rapids Sanitary District Board of Directors
Roanoke Rapids Graded School Board of Education
Iredell County:
Mooresville Graded School Board of Education
Johnston County:
Whitley Heights Sanitary District Commissioners
Northampton County:
Roanoke Rapids Sanitary District Board of Directors
Orange County:
Chapel-Hill Carrboro City Schools Board of Education
Pitt County:
Candlewick Area Sanitary District Board
Randolph County:
Asheboro City Schools Board of Education
Wayne County:
Belfast-Patetown Sanitary District Board Member
Eastern Wayne Sanitary District Board Member
Fork Township Sanitary District Board Member
Southeastern Wayne Sanitary District Board Member
Southern Wayne Sanitary District Board Member
Southern Wayne Sanitary District Board Member (Unexpired Term)
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