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Brad Hessel - Libertarian Candidate for NC Senate 18
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Electoral Reform—Independent Voters

How can we ensure that independent voters are treated fairly?

Summary

  • 30 years ago, 92% of all voters were registered as either Democrats or Republicans; only 8% were independent. Since then, independents have grown to be the largest group of voters in North Carolina—39% compared to 30% for Republicans and 30% for Democrats. But the only significant change in the rules has been to allow independents to vote in partisan primaries.
  • Independent voters are legally barred from serving on the state Board of Elections, which means a plurality of voters in NC lack input into the administration of election law.
  • Independent voters are barred from running for partisan office unless they gather signatures supporting their candidacy, a requirement that does not apply to voters registered as Democrats or Republicans (or any other recognized party)

Banning independents from serving on Boards of Elections is unfair to them and bad for all of us

Electoral matters are governed by the North Carolina Board of Elections and in each of the 100 counties, a local Board of Elections, each with five members. In total, that is 505 people who make important decisions about elections including the calendar for early voting and voting locations for precincts, approving voting machines, collecting and reviewing campaign finance reports, determining what types of photo IDs can be used to vote, resolving voting and candidate eligibility issues, and certifying elections.

Given their 39% share of the overall voter population, we might reasonably expect to see some 190-to-200 independents serving on the Boards of Election. In fact, not a single one of those 505 people is an independent voter! They are all Democrats or Republicans. It is literally against the law to appoint an independent voter to serve on the state Board of Elections! Theoretically, independents can serve on county election boards…but none are ever appointed. So, the largest group of voters have no say in administering our elections.

This is manifestly unfair to them. But it’s also bad for all of us. Under current law—with five member boards consisting of two Democrats and two Republicans with the chairs appointed by the State Auditor—having no independents means partisan disputes will invariably be resolved in the favor of whichever party the Auditor belongs to, regardless of what the best policy solution might be. 

Effectively barring independents from running for partisan offices is unfair to them and restricts choice for all of us

Unlike Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, and Greens—who merely have to pay a fee—independents cannot file to run for office in partisan races unless they first submit petitions signed by thousands of voters—which effectively keeps independent candidates off the ballot. So far this century (counting 2026), there have been just over 300 elections for US Congress in North Carolina—more than 600 candidates. Out of all those candidates, only one independent has succeeded in qualifying to be on the ballot—which goes to show how unreasonably high the bar is. This inherently unfair discrimination against independents hurts all of us, by denying us more choices on our ballots.

Real, practical, effective solutions for electoral reform

  • Amend our election law to allow independents to serve on the Boards of Elections and keep the number of members of each Board odd to minimize the risk of dysfunctional tie votes.
  • Amend our election law to enable independents to run for partisan office without having to submit petitions.