League of Women Voters of North Carolina

First, the threshold for inclusion as a political party is reduced from 2% of the vote in the last gubernatorial election (i.e., in 2008, 87,075 votes) to 10,000 votes.

Further, General Statute 163-122, which requires the signatures of 4% of registered voters (from the prescribed voting area) on a petition for an unaffiliated candidate to be on the ballot would be changed so that any group of voters (from the prescribed voting area) can get a candidate on the ballot with a petition with:

10,000 signatures for a state-wide race (presently, 87,075 required)
1,000 signatures for US House of Representatives
300 signatures for NC State Senate (presently, for NC Senate 1, for example, 5039 required)
150 signatures for NC House, any county or municipal office with greater than 25,000 registered voters (presently, for Wake County, for example, 23,450 required)
50 signatures for any county or municipal office with less than 25,000 registered voters

Additionally, HB-32 allows for later filing (from June 1 to the third Friday in July) for a political party to be put on the ballot. The bill also stipulates that no primary is necessary for a party representing less than 10% of registered voters.

Another provision is that (1) a party with less than 10% of registered voters or (2) any party that elects to do so, may nominate a candidate when s/he receives the highest number of votes in a primary, a change from the requirement for a 40% plurality.

The requirement remains that no person may enter his or her name as an unaffiliated candidate in the general election following loss in the primary for the same office in the same year.

Write-in candidates need to file only a declaration of intent and no signed petitions to be considered. Write-in candidates are ineligible for an office if they lost in the primary for the same office in the same year.

The Electoral Freedom Act