A Single Vote Can Sway An Off-Year Election, Study Finds

Wondering if your vote really counts in the upcoming municipal elections? There's a new study that says the answer is a definite “yes.”

The elections we're about to have in North Carolina aren't big national races that draw lots of attention, and dollars.

Nope, we're looking at off-year, local elections, typically accompanied by low voter turnout.

And that can give extra power to those who do show up at the polls.

The study by Democracy North Carolina looked at results from the last off-year election in 2015. The group found 69 places where a mayor or council member won by five or fewer votes.

In 31 local contests the way one person voted determined who won or lost. At least seven races were decided by a coin toss or other tiebreaker.

Such was the case in Jamestown's recent primary for mayor. In a three-way race, the top two vote-getters tied and the third trailed by only six votes out of more than 400 cast. 

Early voting is already underway in counties across North Carolina. Election Day is Nov. 7.