RALEIGH – The State Board of Elections on Tuesday recognized the We The People Party of North Carolina as an official political party in the state.
Recognition of this party means voters now have eight choices of party affiliation when registering to vote or updating an existing registration. Voters may register with the Constitution, Democratic, Green, Libertarian, No Labels, Republican, or We The People parties, or they can register as unaffiliated. This recognition also means that voters currently registered with a different political party or as unaffiliated may switch their affiliation to the We The People Party if they wish. For information on how to do that, see Updating Registration.
We The People also will have candidates on ballots in November, which it chose during its June 2024 nominating convention. They include Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Nicole Shanahan for president and vice president of the United States, Jeff Scott of Charlotte for N.C. Senate District 40, and Mark Ortiz of Kannapolis for Rowan County Commissioner, according to a letter from We The People, North Carolina.
The State Board will update voter registration applications to include the new political party option. Until then, voters may register with the new party by checking the “Other” box and writing “We The People” on the line in the “Political Party Affiliation” section of the voter registration form.
State Board voter data also will be updated to include the new party registrants.
According to a review by State Board staff, the We The People submitted 18,309 valid signatures from registered N.C. voters, 4,444 more than the required 13,865 signatures. The signatures were verified by the county boards of elections of the counties in which they were collected. We The People also received at least 200 signatures from three different congressional districts, a requirement of “Political party” defined; creation of new party (N.C.G.S. § 163-96(a)(2)).
‘Justice For All’ Party Not Recognized
A majority of the State Board voted not to recognize the Justice for All Party in North Carolina. Members opposed to the party’s recognition alleging evidence of fraud in the signature gathering process, as well as the refusal of independent signature gatherers to comply with a subpoena for information from the Board.
NC House Speaker Tim Moore reacted to the decision saying, “The extreme partisan North Carolina State Board of Elections has denied Cornel West and the Justice for All Party the right to appear on the ballot in November, despite the party meeting all requirements for ballot access. This blatant attempt by Democrats on the NCSBE to bend the rules to insulate their own party’s nominee perfectly illustrates the need for a more balanced Board of Elections.”
