Online judicial voter guide goes live for 2026 election
North Carolina’s online Judicial Voter Guide for the 2026 general election is now available through the State Board of Elections.
The guide includes information about candidates for statewide appellate court races, including one seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court and three seats on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. The general election is Nov. 3.
The State Board said the guide is intended to help voters review candidates for appellate offices before casting a ballot. Supreme Court justices and Court of Appeals judges serve eight-year terms.
The guide does not include candidates for trial court offices that are not elected statewide.
This year’s guide also comes with a funding change. The State Board said it will send a postcard with a QR code link to the online guide to North Carolina households in the coming weeks. It will not send a full printed version of the guide in 2026 because the fund created for the guide has been depleted.
The change means voters will have online access to the candidate information, while the state uses a postcard mailing to direct households to the digital version.
The judicial races are among the statewide contests on North Carolina ballots this fall. Appellate courts can decide major questions involving state law, constitutional disputes, criminal appeals, civil litigation and administrative-agency decisions.
The North Carolina Supreme Court is the state’s highest court. It reviews cases from the Court of Appeals, the Business Court and cases involving death sentences. The Court of Appeals reviews cases first decided in district and superior courts, as well as appeals from some administrative agencies.
The State Board’s release comes as voters prepare for the start of absentee voting. Absentee ballots for the November general election begin going out Sept. 4, according to the board’s election calendar. The voter registration deadline is Oct. 9, and in-person early voting runs from Oct. 15 through Oct. 31.
Editor’s note: This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence and was reviewed and fact-checked by a member of the NC Political News editorial team before publication.
