The North Carolina State Board of Elections has unanimously certified the results of the 2025 municipal elections, with the exception of two contests in Harrellsville. The Board’s decision was made on Tuesday following a series of primaries and general municipal elections held across the state from September to November.
Municipal partisan primaries took place on September 9 in three counties, where over 42,000 voters participated, representing an 8% turnout among more than 530,000 eligible voters. On October 7, municipal elections and nonpartisan primaries were conducted in 18 counties, drawing more than 78,000 voters for a turnout of about 12% from approximately 650,000 eligible voters. The largest round occurred on November 4 when municipal elections were held in 447 municipalities across 88 counties. Over 701,258 ballots were cast during this event—about a 19.8% turnout among roughly 3.5 million eligible voters.
The State Board voted unanimously to authenticate all ballot items except for the mayoral and town council races in Harrellsville. For these two contests, the Board requested additional information from the Hertford County Board of Elections regarding their findings before making a final determination.
In North Carolina’s municipal election process, county boards canvass votes and issue certificates to winning candidates. The State Board then authenticates each ballot item by verifying that votes have been properly counted and tabulated. When contests span multiple counties, a composite abstract is prepared to combine results before certificates are issued.
Certification at the state level follows certification at the county level and is preceded by post-election audits performed by election officials to verify vote counts.
“These municipal elections were carried out smoothly and successfully across North Carolina,” said Executive Director Sam Hayes. “County boards, precinct officials, and State Board staff worked tirelessly to ensure that every voter had a secure and reliable voting experience. Their professionalism and dedication are central to the continued strength of our elections.”
After each election cycle, officials conduct audits to confirm results accuracy; close contests may prompt recounts as required by state law. The recent audits confirmed machine-tabulated results’ accuracy and found no evidence of fraud or irregularities that could affect outcomes.
“The results of these audits reaffirm what we see year after year: North Carolina’s certified voting systems count ballots with a high level of accuracy,” Hayes stated. “Voters can be confident that the machines performed as intended and that the certified results reflect the will of the people.”
Additional information about resources for county boards, public files, voter search tools, absentee ballot tracking through BallotTrax, voter registration statistics, forms, and career opportunities is available through the NC State Board of Elections website.
