Brian Balfour

The following public comment was made in a public hearing on March 9 on proposed new rules at the North Carolina State Board of Elections, “related to voter roll list maintenance on the basis of non-citizenship.” I am Andy Jackson with the John Locke Foundation. I am speaking largely in support of the proposed rules...

Cover photo: Official photo of 4th District Congresswoman Valerie Foushee. Foushee is in a competitive primary. North Carolina completed early voting on Saturday, February 28. Here are a few early data points from Vote Tracker and Voter Registration Changes. The end of this post will have Vote Tracker presets for some closely watched races. Voter...

Early voting for the March 3 primary continues at a relatively brisk pace. Here are a few early data points from Vote Tracker and Voter Registration Changes. North Carolina drops over 5,000 voter registrations, but that is no reason to panic Every party registration dropped in the week from February 16 to 23, but some...

Early voting for the March 3 primary is underway. Here are a few early data points from Vote Tracker. Note, the numbers in the 2024 link will change as some counties report submitted ballots later. Voting is ahead of the 2022 pace So far, turnout is higher than at a similar point in 2022. That...

The North Carolina State Board of Elections (SBE) has announced a set of proposed rules for removing non-citizens from voter rolls: The State Board of Elections invites the public to comment on several proposed permanent rules related to voter roll list maintenance on the basis of non-citizenship. The public comment period is open and runs...

Too often, prosecutors take no action against alleged election law violations Current law allows “any registered” voter in a district to petition the superior court in that district to appoint a special prosecutor for alleged campaign finance violations That law should be expanded to cover other alleged election law violations Prosecutors are often reluctant to...

Votes have started coming in for the March 3 primary. The John Locke Foundation provides several election data products that will help you better understand what is happening in the primary and North Carolina politics more broadly. Voter Tracker keeps you informed of absentee and early voting trends Vote Tracker provides timely data on early...

The board of the North Carolina State Board of Elections (SBE) met on January 13 to make final decisions on early voting plans for counties whose boards of elections could not come to a unanimous agreement. The nonunanimous counties and their competing plans are listed in the “Early Voting Information March 2026 Primary Nonunanimous Plans”...

I was recently quoted in an article in the Carolina Journal that asked, “Are progressives strategically running in NC GOP primaries?” I noted that such occasional infiltrations are an inevitable part of our system: “Having ‘unwelcome guests’ as candidates is a natural consequence of having a primary system (as opposed to nominating conventions),” Jackson told...

The first sign that something was amiss in the 2010 Yancey County sheriff’s race was an anomaly in absentee-by-mail ballots Eye-witness accounts detailed allegations of absentee ballot fraud, voter registration fraud, and illegal voting by felons Despite credible evidence of fraud, a new election was not ordered, and nobody was prosecuted Although election fraud can...

Democrats dominated North Carolina politics for generations after the 1898 election The Democratic share of the electorate has declined for decades, while the number of Republicans in the state has increased While North Carolina flipping red is an important milestone, other factors (such as the rise of unaffiliated registrations) mean that its impact on future...

Election security has lately been associated with conservatives. Nevertheless, there are progressives who share concerns about election integrity. One of those is Free Speech for People, a left-wing organization that has expressed concerns about the integrity of our voting systems. Hand-marked paper ballots make audits more reliable The organization issued a report on post-election audits...

For the first time in several years, North Carolina will use all the same state legislative districts for two elections in a row. That, coupled with the release of the 2026 Civitas Partisan Index (CPI) on November 6, allows us to assess the political shifts in North Carolina General Assembly districts by comparing the 2026...

With candidate filing for the 2026 election starting on Dec. 1, it’s a good time to take stock of the electoral landscape in North Carolina. With that in mind, here is the 2026 Civitas Partisan Index (CPI). The CPI measures the general tendency of voters in a district to vote for one of the two...

The North Carolina State Board of Elections (SBE) is requesting public input on its planned update of its election management and campaign finance reporting software systems. The request includes a bare bones description of the systems and offers a clue as to why they are looking for updates: Currently, the State Board maintains the Statewide...

The North Carolina General Assembly has joined other states in mid-decade redistricting ahead of the 2026 elections Recent redistricting reform legislation has all the elements needed to prevent gerrymandering in North Carolina North Carolina should enact redistricting reform well before the next round of redistricting in 2031 The North Carolina General Assembly approved a new...

The North Carolina General Assembly approved a new congressional district map on October 22. The change involves moving Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Dare, Hyde, and Pamlico counties, along with part of one precinct in Onslow County, from the Third District to the First. In turn, it shifts Greene, Lenoir, Wayne, and Wilson counties from the First...

The North Carolina General Assembly approved a new congressional district map on October 22. The change involves moving Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Dare, Hyde, and Pamlico counties, along with part of one precinct in Onslow County, from the Third District to the First. In turn, it shifts Greene, Lenoir, Wayne, and Wilson counties from the First...

When word came out that the General Assembly might consider drawing a new congressional map to make the First District more Republican, I wondered if they were potentially creating a rod for their own backs: Andy Jackson, director of the Civitas Center for Public Integrity at the John Locke Foundation, warned that redrawing districts could...

A complaint filed in a North Carolina superior court accuses the UNC–Chapel Hill Board of Trustees of conducting policy discussions behind closed doors State law requires open meetings and public disclosure of records with some exceptions If the accusations are true, the board has violated state law A former provost has accused the University of North Carolina...

Following Rep. Cecil Brockman’s arrest for crimes related to his alleged “statutory sex offenses” with a 15-year-old, leaders from both major parties have called for his immediate resignation. The North Carolina House Democrats wrote (on a page that will, no doubt, soon be erased) that Brockman, “Whether he’s working on bipartisan solutions or standing firm...

The plaintiffs were destined to lose Pierce v NC State Board of Elections, a racial gerrymandering claim against state Senate districts in northeastern North Carolina. They not only failed to prove that the districts were racial gerrymanders, but the evidence presented in the case may help pave the way for the General Assembly to redraw...

Cover photo: Madison County Board of Elections member Dyatt Smathers stands outside the former early voting site in Hot Springs, North Carolina, October, 2024. While government actions after Hurricane Helene struck western North Carolina have gotten mixed reviews, the performance of election officials was almost universally praised. That performance is worth remembering one year later....

The North Carolina State Board of Elections (SBE) is conducting a review of 38 election rules to determine whether they are still necessary. The review is required by state law (§ 150B‑21.3A.) and has three steps: “The agency analyses the rules to make initial determinations if they are still necessary, publicly posts those determinations and...