State Board to randomly select ballot order for municipal elections

RALEIGH, N.C. (WWAY) — State Board of Elections staff will hold a random drawing at 5:15 p.m. Friday, September 3 to determine the order of candidates for certain ballot contests during the November 2021 elections.

Contests affected by the drawing include the races for Brunswick Regional Water and Sewer H2G0 Commissioner, Southeast Brunswick Sanitary District Commissioner, and the Dosher Hospital Board of Trustees.

The State Board is required to randomly determine the order of candidates on the ballot, according to N.C.G.S. § 163-165.6(c).

The order will be determined by selecting a ball out of a bingo machine, with the letter on the ball corresponding with the first letter of a candidate’s last name. Candidates whose names start with the letter drawn will appear first on the ballot for their contest. A subsequent coin flip will determine whether additional candidates will follow in alphabetical order or reverse alphabetical order.

Lists of candidates may be found on the State Board of Elections website: Candidate Lists.

This ballot order drawing does not affect the order of candidates for regular municipal elections, such as contests for mayor or town council. Under N.C.G.S. § 163-299(c), candidates’ names in those contests are listed in strict alphabetical order, unless the municipal governing body passes a resolution requesting that candidates’ names be rotated on ballots.

The drawing will be streamed on Facebook Live on the State Board’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/NCSBE/