Guide · Elections
How school board elections work in North Carolina
North Carolina is the state where the answer most depends on your county: board of education elections are nonpartisan by default, but the General Assembly has made dozens of counties partisan one local act at a time.
When school board elections happen
North Carolina county boards of education are elected in even-numbered years, at the primary or the general election depending on the local act that governs the county — a partisan county will often nominate in the March primary and decide in November, while a nonpartisan one may settle the seat in a single election. Because each county's arrangement can be set separately by the legislature, the cycle and the ballot are worth confirming with your county board of elections rather than assuming from a neighboring county.
Seats, terms and how they're staggered
Terms are commonly four years and staggered, with members elected at large, by district, or by a mix of the two — but this is set county by county as well, in the same local acts, and a few counties run two-year or six-year terms. The State Board of Elections keeps the authoritative summary of how each county's board of education is elected, which is the fastest way to get your own county's answer without reading the acts themselves.
Partisan or nonpartisan ballot
The general statute, G.S. 115C-37, makes county boards of education nonpartisan, with candidates' names printed without party labels. The General Assembly can override that for an individual county through a local act, and has done so repeatedly: counts of partisan districts put the number at 16 of 115 in 2015 and about 53 in 2024, and the 2025 session added more, including Pitt and Currituck counties. So "are North Carolina school board elections partisan?" has no single answer — it depends on which county you vote in, and it has been changing.
How to get on the ballot
Candidates file with the county board of elections during a filing period the North Carolina State Board of Elections publishes for each cycle, and pay a filing fee set as a share of the office's salary. Whether you file as a party candidate or without a label depends on your county's local act, so confirm that before you file — it determines which election you are actually running in. Unaffiliated candidates in a partisan county reach the ballot by petition instead.
Where to find results
The North Carolina State Board of Elections publishes results for every contest, searchable by county, and county boards of elections hold the precinct detail. County canvass comes about ten days after the election, once provisional ballots and late-arriving absentees are resolved, and that canvass is what makes a close board race final.
Related
- 2026 school board elections — coverage by state
- North Carolina school board news — what the boards in North Carolina are actually deciding.
- How to find your sample ballot — the official lookup for what you'll actually vote on.
Other states
Sources
- North Carolina State Board of Elections — Filing periods, official results, and its summary of how each county's board of education is elected. https://www.ncsbe.gov/
- North Carolina General Statutes § 115C-37 — The default nonpartisan rule the local acts depart from. https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_115C/GS_115C-37.html
- North Carolina School Boards Association — Board member and candidate guidance. https://www.ncsba.org/
Last reviewed 2026-11-12. Filing deadlines and fees change every cycle and are deliberately not listed here — the North Carolina elections office above publishes the current ones.