Candidate Filing For 2016 Elections Begins

Candidate filing for North Carolina's 2016 elections started Tuesday.

The filing period is two months earlier this year. The General Assembly moved the primaries from next May to March 15 to encourage voter turnout and to give the state a larger role in the presidential primaries.

It will be the first election when voters will be asked to present acceptable photo ID at the polls.

Lamar Joyner, interim Director of the Forsyth County Board of Elections, says people began lining up early at the downtown office in Winston-Salem.

“When you have local races that are going to be on the ballot, you typically have a lot of interest in local candidates getting out early to file,” says Joyner. “We had people as early as fifteen minutes before noon lining up to start filing.”

Next year's ballot also includes races for U.S. Senate, governor and the remainder of the Council of State.

The filing deadline is noon Dec. 21. The State Board of Elections estimates that roughly 2,500 candidates will file before the deadline.

*The Associated Press contributed to this report.