Update: On Monday evening, the full 15-member North Carolina Court of Appeals vacated the stay on filing issued earlier in the day — meaning filing will proceed for state and federal offices as usual on Tuesday. However, the case now goes to the state Supreme Court, which could still delay those races considerably.
Many people crowded the parking lot outside The new Hanover County Board of Elections office off Military Cutoff Road. Most of them were there to support a candidate, some holding signs and others taking pictures.
Several first-time candidates turned out for the Board of Elections and, notably, Sheriff Ed McMahon will face a challenger — former WPD Captain Kelvin Hargrove — for the first time since 2014. (WHQR will have a list of all candidates who file at the end of the filing period in two weeks).
Rae Hunter Havens, the Elections Director for New Hanover County explained the process of filing:
“Essentially candidates who are eligible for file for office would come into their appropriate county board of elections office for county level contest or contest that fall under the jurisdiction of a county board, they go to their local county board of elections. But if it's a state level contest, where they must follow the state, they would either physically need to go to Raleigh and fall with the North Carolina State Board of Elections or they could mail their filing their notice of Candidacy papers.”
The filing period is open until noon, Dec 17, 2021. If a contest needs to have a primary election, in order for a candidate to be nominated to represent a specific party, those elections occur in March. If it's a vote for one and only one candidate files for each party, they would automatically move forward to the election in November.
