Dearest Gentle Readers,

There is a curious little scandal hiding in North Carolina election law—and this one comes with petitions, percentages and just enough irony to raise an eyebrow.

In partisan elections, candidates affiliated with recognized political parties have a fairly straightforward path to the ballot: file, pay the applicable fee and, when necessary, compete in a party primary.

But dare to arrive unaffiliated, and suddenly there is an additional hoop.

For a partisan municipal office, an unaffiliated candidate must collect verified signatures from at least 1.5% of the registered voters eligible to vote in that election. For many county offices, that requirement is 4%.

Apparently, paying your fee and meeting the qualifications for office is quite enough—provided you brought a political party along as your chaperone.

How charming.

And here is where the story gets especially interesting: unaffiliated voters are the largest voter-registration group in North Carolina.

Yes, you read that correctly.

The largest group of registered voters in the state belongs to neither major political party, yet candidates choosing that same unaffiliated status face an additional petition requirement to get their names before voters.

One might call that an unfortunate bit of irony. We might call it a system worth questioning.

Especially in local elections.

Potholes are not Republican. Sewer lines are not Democratic. Fire trucks do not check voter registration before responding to a call. Local officials make decisions about roads, budgets, development, public safety and basic services—the decidedly unglamorous work of keeping communities functioning.

Partisan labels invite us to choose a team before examining the person.

Without those labels, candidates would still have political beliefs. Voters could still research registrations, records, endorsements, positions and values. Nothing about a nonpartisan ballot prevents an informed voter from doing their homework.

It simply removes the convenient little R or D doing the thinking for them.

Local elections should be about neighbors choosing the people they believe are most capable of serving their community.

Let candidates make their case. Let voters do their research. And then let the people decide.

Because when the largest group of voters in North Carolina chooses no party at all, perhaps treating “unaffiliated” like the ballot’s unwelcome guest deserves more than a raised eyebrow.

It deserves a conversation.

Dutchess of Democracy