The new year marks a new election season. In North Carolina, primary elections will be held on March 3 for statewide and local seats. The general election will follow on Nov. 3.
Below, you’ll find information on key races to pay attention to, important primary election dates, and voter registration and voting information.
For details on the election, see the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) 2026 elections webpage.
Notable 2026 races
U.S. Senate
The only statewide race in 2026 is the U.S. Senate seat left up for grabs by the retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis.
Former Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, has announced he is running for the seat and is the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Seven candidates are vying for the Republican nomination, including Michael Whatley, who is the former chairman of the Republican National Committee. Michele Morrow, who ran for state superintendent of public instruction in 2024, announced her bid to enter the race on Dec. 18.
See the full list of candidates for the Democratic and Republican primaries here.
All N.C. House and N.C. Senate seats up for election
All 120 N.C. House and all 50 N.C. Senate seats are up for election this year. One race to watch is the Republican primary for N.C. Senate District 26, the district of the current Senate President Pro Tempore, Sen. Phil Berger, R-Rockingham.
Berger is being challenged by Sam Page, the sheriff of Rockingham County. The race features key differences in school choice, with Berger favoring what he calls “universal school choice,” and Page favoring “accountable school choice with commonsense guardrails to ensure it works for all families,” according to his campaign website. If Page wins, that could represent a major shift in power in the legislature.
Educators on the ballot
A group called NC Educators on the Ballot (NCEOB) is running six candidates for N.C. House seats, all of whom are current or former teachers. Those House seats represent portions of eight counties: Catawba, Davidson, Granville, Henderson, Iredell, Mecklenburg, Vance, and Wake.
The group’s website says, “NC Educators on the Ballot is a grassroots movement to put educators and public education supporters on Republican primary ballots across North Carolina.”
The group has been criticized by Republicans who say it is an attempt to mislead voters. The group has denied that claim.
The NCEOB website says, “The Republican Party currently holds a supermajority in the NC General Assembly. That means most education policy decisions are made within the Republican caucus. By encouraging educators to run in Republican primaries, we bring new voices into the process and give voters in those districts a real choice.”
See a list of those candidates here.
Important primary election deadlines
Jan. 12, 2026: County boards of elections begin mailing absentee ballots to eligible voters who submitted an absentee ballot request form.
Feb. 6, 2026: Voter registration deadline (5 p.m.).*
Feb. 12, 2026: In-person early voting begins.
Feb. 17, 2026: Absentee ballot request deadline (5 p.m.).*
Feb. 28, 2026: In-person early voting ends (3 p.m.).
March 3, 2026: Primary Election Day.
March 3, 2026: Absentee ballot return deadline (7:30 p.m.).*
See a full election calendar here.
*Voter registration and absentee voting deadlines are different for military and overseas citizen voters.
How do primaries work in North Carolina?
Primary elections determine who will be on the ballot for the November general election. Parties hold primaries to choose the candidate they will sponsor.
North Carolina holds what are called semi-closed primaries. That means that, depending on your registered party affiliation, you may or may not be able to vote in certain primaries.
In North Carolina, voters affiliated with any political party may only vote in that party’s primary. For example, registered Democrats can only vote in the Democratic primary. However, voters registered as unaffiliated may choose to vote in any party’s primary, but not more than one.
The number of registered Republicans recently surpassed the number of registered Democrats in North Carolina for the first time in history, but the largest share of voters are unaffiliated. A Carolina Demography analysis of voter registration data from 2023 shows the proportion of unaffiliated registrations increasing and the proportion of Democratic registrations decreasing over the past decade, while Republican registrations have stayed roughly the same.
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Checking your voter registration
To vote, you must be registered. Voters can check their registration and view their voter information using the NCSBE Voter Search tool.
Registering to vote or updating your registration
Voters registering for the first time can register online or in person at the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Existing DMV customers may submit an online voter registration application. They can also fill out an English or Spanish voter registration application and submit it by mail.
See the NCSBE voter registration webpage for more information.
Voters can also update their registrations through the DMV or by mail. See the updating voter registration webpage.
The deadline to register or update your registration is 25 days before election day. For the 2026 primary election, that day is Feb. 6.
Individuals may also register in person if they are voting early through a process called “same-day registration.”
Qualifications to register
Individuals must meet certain qualifications to register to vote, including being a United States citizen, having lived and resided in the county where they’re registering for at least 30 days, and being at least 18 years old by the day of the general election.
17-year-olds can vote in primary elections if they will be 18 by the general election.
See more information here.
Voting by mail
By requesting an absentee ballot, any voter can vote by mail in the 2026 elections. The deadline to request an absentee ballot is Feb. 17, and the ballot must be returned by 7:30 p.m. on March 3, the day of the primary election.
Voters may submit an online absentee ballot request form or submit a paper form by hand or mail.
See more information here.
Voting in person
North Carolina voters will be asked to present a photo ID, like a driver’s license or passport, when voting. See resources and qualifying forms of ID here.
According to the NCSBE website, all voters will be allowed to vote with or without and ID. Those who cannot show a form of photo ID can still vote by filling out an ID Exception Form.
Early voting
The early voting period starts on Feb. 12 and lasts until Feb. 28.
During early voting, voters can vote at any early voting site in their county. To find your voting sites for the early voting period, enter your county on this webpage.
Voting on election day
On election day — March 3 — voters will be assigned a specific polling place. You can find your election day polling place and sample ballot by entering your address on this webpage.
On election day, voting lasts from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Voters in line at 7:30 p.m. will be able to vote.
Editor’s Note: The number of members in the N.C. House has been corrected.
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