The North Carolina Green Party and the Constitution Party of North Carolina are asking state election officials to temporarily hold off on labeling their registered voters as unaffiliated as the parties try to regain recognition in the state.
Both parties failed to meet candidate support thresholds in the 2020 election, causing them to lose recognition. None of their candidates for president or governor received at least 2% of the vote in the state.
In a joint letter to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, the parties ask for a "reasonable amount of time" to complete a petition process to regain recognition and get back on the ballot for the next election.
The parties would need to collect 13,865 signatures — 0.25% of the total votes cast for governor — of registered voters in order to regain recognition. As of Sunday afternoon, the North Carolina Green Party had reported no signatures to the state. The Constitution Party of North Carolina had reported 3,521 signatures.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections can relabel registered voters for both parties — currently more than 9,000 combined — as unaffiliated as soon as Feb. 23, which is 90 days after the certification of the November election.
The State Board of Elections is scheduled to discuss the matter at its Feb. 23 meeting.