NC Supreme Court suspends candidate filing, moves 2022 primary back to May

In the latest round of legal jousting triggered by lawsuits challenging the fairness of North Carolina’s newly redrawn U.S. House and state legislative maps, the state’s Supreme Court on Dec. 8 suspended candidate filing for all offices for the 2022 primary election. No new date for a filing period has been set.

At the same time, the Court also pushed the date of the primary and rescheduled municipal elections back more than two months – to Tuesday, May 17, 2022. They had been scheduled for March 8.

In its Order, the Supreme Court said that the merits of the plaintiff’s challenges to the new maps should be resolved before a filing period is established.

Today’s decision follows two conflicting Court of Appeals rulings on Dec. 6. The first halted filing for Congressional and state legislative races. The second overturned that ruling and allowed candidates to begin filing their paperwork the next day, on Dec. 7.

Originally, the filing period was set to begin on Dec. 6, and according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE), more than 1,400 candidates have already filed statewide.

In a statement today, the NCSBE announced that “any candidate whose filing has been accepted by the State Board of Elections or any county board of elections, that candidate ‘will be deemed to have filed for the same office’ in the May primary, subject to any court rulings that would impact that candidate’s eligibility, according to the Supreme Court order.”

The NCSBE also said that candidates who have filed can withdraw their candidacy during the new filing period and can file for another office for which they are eligible.

Read order: N.C. Supreme Court Order No. 413P21 (PDF).