Shawn Griffiths
RALEIGH, N.C. - North Carolina voters are encouraged to check their voter registration. On June 24, the party affiliation of about 34,000 voters will change in the voter registration database from a now unrecognized political party to unaffiliated.
The Constitution, Justice for All, No Labels, and We the People parties have lost their recognized party statuses in North Carolina after none of them fielded a candidate who got at least 2% of the vote for governor or president in November 2024.
The Green Party in North Carolina failed to reach 2% of the statewide vote. However, it was allowed to keep its party status because the State Board of Elections held that it had achieved party status in 70% of US states in 2024.
The bad news? If these parties want to be re-recognized, they will have to go through the new party process again. The good news? The affected voters will not be denied access to future primary elections because they forgot to change their voter registration.
Notably, some of these parties were formed explicitly to prop up a presidential candidate or with the initial plan to field a candidate. For example, We the People was formed solely to get Robert F Kennedy Jr on North Carolina's presidential ballot (along with other states).
Similarly, the No Labels Party was formed when the No Labels group considered running a presidential candidate -- a bid it abandoned in April 2024. Some voters ended up being confused about No Labels because they thought it meant unaffiliated.
“New voters and voters who update their registrations are no longer able to affiliate with the Constitution, Justice for All, No Labels, or We the People parties,” said Sam Hayes, executive director of the State Board of Elections.
“These parties may be recognized again if they meet the requirements for a political party as specified in state law.” Regaining party status requires petitions signed by 0.25% of the total vote in the 2024 gubernatorial election.
In the meantime, the roughly 34,000 voters registered with one of these parties do not need to worry about forgetting to change their voter registration if they want to vote in a future primary election.
North Carolina conducts semi-open partisan primaries. This means registered party members have to vote in their respective party's primary, but unaffiliated voters can choose a single party's ballot.
As it is easy for any voter to forget about their voter registration status or not consider having to change it, anyone registered with an inactive party would be denied a vote in primary elections if the party kept its party status.