In-person early voting gets underway this Thursday, Oct. 16, for voters in 380 North Carolina municipalities ahead of the November municipal elections.
There are 447 cities, towns, and villages in 88 counties that are conducting elections. Of these, 67 municipalities have chosen not to use early and absentee voting, and will only be allowed to vote on Election Day, which is Tuesday, Nov. 4.
Early voting sites and schedules are available at the State Board of Elections’ Early Voting Site Search and at Early Voting Sites for the Nov. 4, 2025, Municipal Elections. Statewide, 144 early voting sites will be open for the November elections.
During the early voting period, eligible individuals who are not registered to vote may register and vote at the same time at an early voting site in their county.
The 2025 Municipal Elections Map on the Upcoming Election webpage and the Local Voter Tool include detailed information on elections being held this year.
Voters must be registered to vote in the municipality where they reside to vote in its elections. They can find out if they’re eligible to vote in 2025 by going to the State Board’s Voter Search tool on the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) website and looking for their sample ballot. If they don’t have a sample ballot attached to their voter record, they are not eligible to vote in any of the contests.
NCSBE notes that the cities of New Bern, Henderson, and Rocky Mount have runoff elections, and a sample ballot may not be attached to the voter’s record in those municipalities until ballots are finalized after the county canvass on Oct.14.
Voters in many municipalities will select mayors and members of their local governing bodies, including in Durham, where incumbent Mayor Leonardo Williams is running for his second term. He will face off in a nonpartisan election against Anjanee Bell, the daughter of former mayor Bill Bell, who served from 2001 to 2017.
In Fayetteville’s mayoral race, incumbent Mayor Mitch Colvin will go up against mayor pro tem and council member Kathy Jensen.
In some areas, voters will choose water and sewer or sanitary district commissioners, or board of education members. Additionally, several towns have referenda on the ballot.
“Municipal elections are a huge undertaking across North Carolina. We appreciate the hard work of our county officials and poll workers in administering these important elections,” said Sam Hayes, NCSBE executive director, in a press release. “Municipal elections represent another opportunity for voters to make their voices heard in choosing their government leaders.”
Absentee voting has also begun in participating municipalities. Eligible registered voters may request a ballot online through the NC Absentee Ballot Portal or on paper using the 2025 NC Absentee Ballot Request Form until 5pm on Tuesday, Oct. 21.
Voters whose records do not contain the required identification information and show up to vote will cast a provisional ballot and fill out a form with their North Carolina driver’s license or DMV ID number, or the last four digits of their Social Security number. The county board of elections will meet after Election Day to determine whether the voter provided the required identification information for their provisional ballot to be counted.
The Registration Repair Project, an initiative launched by the NCSBE earlier this year, aims to alleviate some of these issues by collecting driver’s license numbers or the last four digits of Social Security numbers from registered voters who do not have one of these numbers in the voter registration database.
Voters can check if they are on the Registration Repair list using the Registration Repair Search Tool and find out how to repair it on the Registration Repair page.
In-person early voting ends at 3pm on Saturday, Nov. 1.
The post In-person early voting begins Thursday for municipal elections appeared first on Carolina Journal.