Filing for municipal elections begins at noon Friday

Candidates can file for all municipal elections starting at noon Friday and through noon July 21, according to the Cumberland County Board of Elections.  

The city of Fayetteville primary election is Oct. 10, and the general election for all municipalities is Nov. 7.

Municipal offices that will be on the ballot include:

• Fayetteville: mayor, all nine City Council seats.
• Eastover Sanitary District: one board member.
• Eastover: mayor, three town council seats.
• Falcon: mayor, all four council seats.
• Godwin: mayor, all four council seats.
• Hope Mills: mayor, all five council seats.
• Linden: mayor, all five council seats.
• Spring Lake: mayor, all five council seats.
• Stedman: three council seats.
• Wade: mayor, all five council seats.

Anyone who is registered to vote in the contest in which they would run can file a candidacy. Voters do not have to belong to a political party to run for municipal office.

The only other eligibility requirement is to be 21 or older on Election Day. Any candidate who has been convicted of a felony must also disclose that information when filing for office. 

To file a candidacy, candidates must complete a notice of candidacy form at the Cumberland County Board of Elections in the E. Newton Smith Center at 227 Fountainhead Lane. Alternatively, candidates can have the form notarized and delivered to the Board of Elections office.

Filing fees differ across municipalities:

• City of Fayetteville: Mayor, $348; City Council, $190.
• Eastover Sanitary Board: $5.
• Eastover: Mayor and Town Council, $5.
• Falcon: Mayor and commissioner, $5.
• Godwin: Mayor and commissioner, $5.
• Hope Mills: Mayor, $10; commissioner, $5.
• Linden: Mayor and commissioner $5.
• Spring Lake: Mayor and alderman, $15.
• Stedman: Mayor and commissioner, $5.
• Wade: Mayor and commissioner, $5.

The state Board of Elections also gives the option for eligible candidates in municipal races to file a written petition instead of paying a filing fee. The petition must be signed by 5% of registered voters in the respective area and be turned in to the county Board of Elections at noon on the Monday before the candidate filing deadline.

Additional information about candidate petitions is available at https://www.ncsbe.gov/candidates/petitions.

Prospective candidates can find more information and forms by visiting the Board of Elections website at https://www.cumberlandcountync.gov/departments/election-group/elections/candidates.

Voter identification reminder

As the election season kicks off, the Board of Elections is reminding voters that they will need to provide photo identification or get an exemption in order to vote in municipal elections this fall, because of changes in state law.

The ID can take many forms, including:

• C. driver’s license.
• C. state-issued ID.
• Driver’s license or state ID from another state, District of Columbia or U.S. territory, only if the voter registered in North Carolina within 90 days of the election.
• S. passport or U.S. passport card.
• North Carolina voter photo ID card issued by a county board of elections (available soon).
• College or university student ID approved by the State Board of Elections.
• State or local government or charter school employee ID approved by the State Board of Elections.

The county Board of Elections notes that a voter 65 or older may use an expired form of acceptable ID if the ID was unexpired on their 65th birthday. Voters can also provide any of the following forms of identification, regardless of whether the ID contains an expiration or issuance date:

• Military or veterans ID card issued by the U.S. government.
• Tribal enrollment card issued by a tribe recognized by the state or federal government.
• ID card issued by an agency of the U.S. government or North Carolina for a public assistance program.

However, the Board of Elections voters will not be barred from casting a ballot if they cannot provide a photo ID. Permitted exceptions to the photo ID requirement include the following:

• The voter has a reasonable impediment to showing a photo ID, including lack of transportation, lost or stolen ID, disability or illness, or family responsibilities.
• The voter has a religious objection to being photographed.
• The voter was a victim of a natural disaster within 100 days of Election Day.

Voters without acceptable forms of ID can still cast their ballots in one of two ways:

• Vote with an ID exception form and a provisional ballot.
• Vote with a provisional ballot and return to their county board of elections office with a photo ID by the day before the county canvass. For municipal elections in September and October, this deadline is the Monday following Election Day. For all other elections, the deadline is the second Thursday following Election Day.

Absentee-by-mail voters who are unable to include a copy of their photo ID in their ballot return envelope can also fill out an ID exception form with their ballot.

The Cumberland County Board of Elections Office is open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The office is in the E. Newton Smith Center at 227 Fountainhead Lane in Fayetteville. For more information, call 910-678-7733 or visit cumberlandcountync.gov/elections. 

Contact local government reporter Evey Weisblat at eweisblat@cityviewnc.com.

The CityView News Fund is a nonprofit organization that supports CityView’s newsgathering operation. Will you help us with a tax-deductible donation?