The short version.
Chatham County, North Carolina has 57,903 active registered voters — 23.5% Republican, 32.8% Democratic, and 43.3% with no party affiliation, as of July 2026. Here's what it takes to get on the ballot here.
North Carolina gives every candidate the same choice: pay a filing fee, or collect petition signatures instead. You file a Notice of Candidacy with your county Board of Elections (for N.C. House/Senate and county and local offices) or with the State Board of Elections (for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, judicial offices, and District Attorney).
This page covers how that works for Chatham County, including the actual number of signatures you'd need here. It is not legal advice; for the official rules, your county Board of Elections and the North Carolina State Board of Elections are the sources of truth.
Chatham County by the numbers.
- 57,903 active registered voters across 18 precincts (official North Carolina voter file, July 2026).
- Party registration: Democratic 32.8% · Republican 23.5% · unaffiliated 43.3% · other parties 0.5%.
- 37,588 supervoters (64.92%, voted in at least 3 of the last 4 November generals). These are the doors reliable-voter campaigns knock first.
- In 2024, Chatham County cast 52,098 votes for president: 55.7% Democratic, 43.2% Republican.
Full statistics, registration breakdown, and the most reliable-voting precincts: Chatham County voter data.
The campaigns that win the field are the ones who start building their list of supporters and volunteers before qualifying even opens, not after. The Chatham County voter file is already loaded in Motion51, so you can start finding your people now.
The two ways to qualify.
Every North Carolina candidate gets the same choice: pay the filing fee, or petition to get on the ballot for free. You don't have to decide early; you can prepare for either.
Option 1: Pay the filing fee.
Under N.C. Gen. Stat. §163-107 the fee is 1% of the annual salary of the office you're seeking, the same 1% for every office, from Governor to county commissioner. The salary used is the office's starting salary. Your board of elections will quote you the exact dollar amount when you file.
Option 2: Petition in lieu of the fee.
Under N.C. Gen. Stat. §163-107.1, you can skip the fee by collecting signatures instead:
- County, local, and district partisan offices: signatures from 5% of the registered voters in the area who are affiliated with your party, or 200 voters, whichever is greater.
- Statewide and appellate offices (U.S. Senate, Governor, Supreme Court, Court of Appeals): a flat 10,000 registered voters of your party.
- Nonpartisan offices (most judicial, school board, many municipal): 5% of all registered voters in the area; any registered voter may sign.
The board checks every signature against the voter rolls, so collect a cushion. Candidates who petition well treat it as a head start on the field operation: every signer is a confirmed registered voter, and every gatherer is a future volunteer.
Signatures you'd need in Chatham County.
If you take the petition route for a Chatham County office, here's the real math from the county's current registration:
- Democratic primary (partisan office): 5% of 18,979 registered Democrats = 949, or 200, whichever is greater → about 949 signatures.
- Republican primary (partisan office): 5% of 13,595 registered Republicans = 680, or 200, whichever is greater → about 680 signatures.
- Nonpartisan county office: 5% of all 57,903 registered voters → about 2,896 signatures.
- Statewide office (e.g., U.S. Senate): a flat 10,000 registered voters of your party.
Figures use Chatham County's current registration as the basis. Confirm the exact number for your specific office with Chatham County Board of Elections, which issues official petition forms and signature requirements.
Key North Carolina dates.
Still open for the November 3, 2026 ballot
Every route onto a COUNTY race closed months ago: regular filing at noon on December 19, 2025, the unaffiliated petition at noon on primary day, and the write-in petition at noon on August 5. What is still open is narrower, and it is worth knowing because it needs no paperwork at all.
- No deadline at all STILL OPEN. WRITE-IN for a MUNICIPAL contest, a Soil and Water Conservation District supervisor race, or a NONPARTISAN board of education contest. No petition, no declaration of intent, no fee: the write-in line is already on those ballots and the only requirement is that you are eligible to hold the office (G.S. 163-123(h)).
- Fri Sep 18, 2026, 12:00 noon CLOSED. COMPUTED unaffiliated petition deadline for a PARTISAN municipal office in a town that holds even-year elections -- noon on the Friday before the seventh Saturday before the election, 1.5 per cent of that town's voters (G.S. 163-296). Narrow: most NC towns are nonpartisan and odd-year.
- Wed Aug 5, 2026, 12:00 noon CLOSED. Write-in declaration of intent plus petition for a COUNTY office -- CLOSED (G.S. 163-123(c)(3), the 90th day).
- Tue Mar 3, 2026, 12:00 noon CLOSED. Unaffiliated petition for a county office, 4 per cent of the county's registered voters -- CLOSED. It fell on primary day (G.S. 163-122(a)(3)).
- Fri Dec 19, 2025, 12:00 noon CLOSED. Regular candidate filing for all county offices -- CLOSED (G.S. 163-106.2(b)).
A vacancy in a party's nomination is filled by that party's county executive committee under G.S. 163-114, not by any application from the public, and where the vacancy did not arise from a death the committee had to certify by today, the 75th day before the election.
2027 is the municipal year; 2028 is the next county ballot
North Carolina runs municipal elections in odd years, and each town chooses its own method -- plurality, nonpartisan primary, election-and-runoff, or partisan -- which is what decides whether there is a September or October round at all (G.S. 163-279).
- Fri Jul 2 to Fri Jul 16, 2027, 12:00 noon COMPUTED municipal filing period (G.S. 163-294.2(c), 163-291(2)). Treat the closing date as hard and the opening date as soft: a town charter or local act can override it, and the State Board has shifted the opening in past years.
- Tue Oct 5, 2027 COMPUTED nonpartisan municipal primary, the fourth Tuesday before the election (G.S. 163-279).
- Tue Nov 2, 2027 COMPUTED municipal general election (G.S. 163-279(a)).
- Mon Dec 6 to Fri Dec 17, 2027, 12:00 noon COMPUTED filing period for ALL 2028 county offices, filed with your county board of elections (G.S. 163-106.2). This is the real county deadline and it is eleven months before the election.
- Tue Mar 7, 2028, 12:00 noon COMPUTED unaffiliated petition deadline for a county office -- noon on primary day, needing 4 per cent of the county's registered voters (G.S. 163-122(a)(3)).
- Tue Mar 7, 2028 COMPUTED 2028 primary (G.S. 163-1(b)); a second primary, if demanded, ten weeks later on May 16.
- Wed Aug 9, 2028, 12:00 noon COMPUTED write-in declaration and petition deadline for a county office -- 100 signatures in a county with 5,000 or more eligible voters (G.S. 163-123(c)(3)). Get the sheets to the county board about two weeks earlier; they need the time to verify.
- Tue Nov 7, 2028 COMPUTED 2028 general election.
Do not assume every county office is up in the same year. Sheriff, clerk of superior court and district attorney were on the 2026 ballot for four-year terms, so they next appear in 2030, not 2028. Register of deeds runs on the presidential cycle in some counties and the midterm cycle in others, and commission seats are staggered by local act. Read your own county board's last filing notice. One concrete gotcha: a sheriff candidate must obtain a Felony Disclosure Statement from the NC Sheriffs' Training and Standards Division BEFORE filing (G.S. 163-106(f)), and that takes days -- it cannot be started at the counter.
Status as of October 18, 2026: dates that have passed are greyed out and marked CLOSED.
The 2026 dates come from the NC State Board of Elections candidate fact sheets and deadlines calendar, read on 2026-08-20. The State Board has published nothing past 2026, so the 2027 and 2028 dates are arithmetic from Chapter 163. The General Assembly has moved North Carolina primary dates by session law before, and a town charter can override the municipal filing window, so re-check with your county board of elections before you rely on any of it.
The 2027 ballot in Chatham County.
These 2027 dates are confirmed against the state's own published calendar or statute. Anything our research could not confirm is left off this page rather than estimated.
-
November 2, 2027
Municipal General — Mixed.
Which local offices are on this ballot varies by jurisdiction; the Chatham County Board of Elections can tell you which of yours is.
Candidate filing: opens Jul 2, 2027, closes Jul 16, 2027.
Source 1 · Source 2 -
November 2, 2027
Special — Special District.
Special elections and referenda held with the municipal general: referenda and special elections wholly within a municipality's jurisdiction (municipal bond referenda, charter/annexation questions, sanitary district and water-and-sewer district questions, vacancy elections). NOTE: county-wide bond, sales-tax and levy referenda are generally NOT available in 2027.
Candidate filing: opens Jul 2, 2027, closes Jul 16, 2027.
Source 1 · Source 2
2027 dates can move, and a municipality can change its own election date by ordinance. Which seats are on a given ballot depends on when each was last filled. Confirm anything you are relying on with the Chatham County Board of Elections before you act on it.
Chatham County at a glance.
Chatham County had an estimated 83,874 residents in July 2024, the 34th most populous of North Carolina's 100 counties, up 10.0% since the 2020 census. Of those, 68,199 are 18 or older, the voting-age population, and 26.2% are 65 or older. Its 57,903 active registered voters equal about 84.9% of that voting-age population.
It covers 682 square miles of land (123 people per square mile), and 79.3% of residents live outside any incorporated city or town. The largest cities and towns are Siler City (8,087), Pittsboro (4,989), Cary (part) (4,020), Goldston (256) and Apex (part) (31). The American Community Survey (2020-2024) puts it at a median age of 47.6, a median household income of $94,317, 48.9% of adults 25 and older holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 80.6% of occupied homes owned by the people living in them.
In 2024, 52,098 votes were cast for president, about 76.4% of the voting-age population; the Democratic ticket took 55.7% and the Republican ticket 43.2%. The two-party margin moved from D+9.7 in 2008 to D+12.5 in 2024.
- Population (2024 estimate)
- 83,874
- Population (2020 census base)
- 76,255
- Voting-age population (18+)
- 68,199
- Active voters per 100 adults
- 84.9
- Residents 65 and older
- 26.2%
- People per square mile
- 123
- Living outside incorporated places
- 79.3%
- Land area
- 682 sq mi
- Median age
- 47.6
- Median household income
- $94,317
- Adults 25+ with a bachelor's degree
- 48.9%
- Owner-occupied homes
- 80.6%
Largest cities and towns
- Siler City 8,087
- Pittsboro 4,989
- Cary (part) 4,020
- Goldston 256
- Apex (part) 31
Presidential vote, 2008–2024
| Year | Democratic | Republican | Margin | Votes cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 55.7% | 43.2% | D+12.5 | 52,098 |
| 2020 | 55.1% | 43.6% | D+11.5 | 48,599 |
| 2016 | 53.6% | 43.5% | D+10.1 | 39,080 |
| 2012 | 51.9% | 47.2% | D+4.7 | 35,157 |
| 2008 | 54.3% | 44.6% | D+9.7 | 32,880 |
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2024 population estimates and 2024 Gazetteer; American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates; certified county presidential returns. Growth, density and turnout are simple arithmetic on those figures.
Counties next to Chatham.
Running in a district that crosses a county line? Each of these has its own guide.
Offices on the ballot.
Up in 2026 (primary March 3, general November 3):
- U.S. Senate — open seat (Sen. Thom Tillis is retiring)
- U.S. House — all 14 North Carolina seats
- N.C. Senate — all 50 seats
- N.C. House — all 120 seats
- Judicial — Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and Superior & District Court seats; District Attorneys
- County & local — commissioners, sheriff, register of deeds, clerk of court, school board (varies by county)
The Council of State (Governor and other statewide executives) is not on the 2026 ballot; those are elected in 2028. For the official list of Chatham County seats up this cycle, check your county Board of Elections.
Your county Board of Elections.
North Carolina runs elections through 100 county Boards of Elections. Chatham County's board is where you file for county, local, and N.C. legislative offices, and the source of truth for local dates, district maps, and petition forms.
- Office
- 964 East Street, Suite 101, Pittsboro, NC 27312
- Phone
- (919) 545-8500
- Website
- https://www.chathamcountync.gov/government/departments-programs-a-h/elections
Contact details verified 2026-06-18. If a field is wrong or out of date, the NC State Board of Elections county-board directory above is the canonical source.
After you qualify: building a field operation.
The paperwork ends the day you file. What starts then is the actual campaign: knocking on doors, recruiting volunteers, and identifying the voters who'll show up for you in the primary and in November.
That's what Motion51 is built for. The Chatham County voter file is already loaded: no chasing a CSV or paying a vendor. You scope your district, recruit volunteers, cut turf, and start knocking. The app works offline for neighborhoods with bad cell coverage, and every door is logged with a timestamp.
If qualifying is settled and you're thinking about the field operation, our For Candidates page walks through the next steps.