North Carolina voters can expect to see at least eighteen candidates from three different parties, including ten Libertarians, on the upcoming presidential primary ballot, with the potential for even more names to be added early in the new year.
The North Carolina presidential primary is part of Super Tuesday and is scheduled for March 5, 2024.
According to the North Carolina Board of Elections website, three parties submitted lists of candidates to be included on the primary ballot. The Libertarian Party ballot, the most highly contested of the three, will include ten candidates: Toad Anderson, Charles Ballay, David (TrimeTaveler) Dunlap, Jacob Hornberger, Beau Lindsey, Lars Mapstead, Chase Oliver, Michael Rectenwald, Joshua Smith, and Mike ter Maat. At its current size, it is currently the most diverse ballot for Libertarians across the country.
Meanwhile, the Republican and Democratic parties submitted smaller lists, with the Republicans having seven choices on the ballot, including Ryan Binkley, Gov. Chris Christie, Gov. Ron DeSantis, Gov. Nikki Haley, Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Vivek Ramaswamy, and former President Donald J. Trump, and Democrats only having the option of President Joe Biden.
In addition to the Libertarian, Republican, and Democratic parties, North Carolina also recognizes the Green Party and No Labels. However, neither of the two latter organizations will participate in the primary process and are keeping their primaries closed to the public.
The North Carolina State Board of Election website states that the Green Party chose not to submit a list of candidates. Regarding No Labels, the organization has said in the past that it intends to select its candidate at its national convention under specific circumstances.
According to an article on the primaries in the Carolina Journal, the State Board will meet again on January 2, 2024, to consider adding additional names not initially submitted by the three parties. State law allows candidates to be added to the ballot independently of party lists if they gathered at least 10,000 valid signatures by the December 22, 2023 deadline. Additionally, candidates may be included by the Board if a majority deems them notable and recognized by either state or national news sources.
Readers of Independent Political Report can access a current list of candidate from the three parties participating in Super Tuesday on the North Carolina Board of Elections website.
With thanks to Richard Winger of Ballot Access News for adding that No Labels would not have had the ability to engage in the primary process regardless due to its new status.
The reporter didn’t seem to know that new parties in North Carolina can’t have a primary. So the No Labels Party, which is new, couldn’t have had a presidential primary even if it wanted one.