2026 CANDIDATE FILING DATES
Filing Starts - Monday, December 1st, 2025 at 12:00 noon.
Filing Ends – Friday, December 19th, 2025 at 12:00 Noon
You must pay the filing fee when you file a notice of candidacy. The fee is generally 1% of the office’s base salary, payable by cashier’s check, money order, personal check, or campaign check. More information can be found concerning filing by clicking HERE.
** Sheriff Contest- Under NC G.S. 163-106(f) any candidate who is interested in filing for Sheriff must obtain a valid Felony Disclosure Statement from the NC Sheriffs’ Training & Standards Division to file along with their notice of candidacy form. Before filing, candidates must complete several forms and a disclosure statement verifying that they have had no prior felony convictions or expungements. Find the forms and additional information at Sheriffs’ Training & Standards Division | NCDOJ.
The State and county boards of elections cannot accept candidate filings via surrogate. During the upcoming candidate filing period the boards of elections will only accept notices of candidacy that are signed and submitted in person by the candidate, or which are certified and delivered via mail or commercial courier service, per N.C.G.S. § 163-106(a).
Candidate forms may be brought in completed or the Board of Election will produce those for you to sign. Notaries are available at the Board of Elections office for filing. Forms may also be completed, notarized, and mailed to the Board of Elections Office but must be received in the Board of Elections office by noon on the last day of filing.
No person shall be permitted to file as a candidate in a party primary unless that person has been affiliated with that party for at least 90 days as of the date that person is filing such notice of candidacy. A person registered as “unaffiliated” shall not be eligible to file as a candidate in a party primary election. North Carolina recognizes the following political parties that will have a party primary in 2026: The Democratic Party, the Libertarian Party, and the Republican Party. Please note that the Green Party will not have a party primary in 2026.
For more information, please contact the Beaufort County Board of Election at 252-946-2321 or Beaufort.boe@beaufortcountync.gov
Printed documents can be found by downloading the files below: