6 ways to make elections fairer, less costly and expedited

No doubt you are hearing pundits speculating about the 2026 U.S. Senate race, but that election is 13 months from now. Instead, let’s spend our time focusing on how to make North Carolina elections better. Consider these proposals.

Change the date. North Carolina elections have become ridiculously and unnecessarily long. If we shortened the campaign cycle, we might turn fewer people off, save money and get a higher percentage of voter turnout.

We tried moving the date of the primary to March, hoping our state would have some input into the presidential nomination. It didn’t work.

North Carolina should move our primary election to the first Tuesday in June, before the kids are out of school for the summer and vacations aren’t in full swing. That’s about 90 days before the November General Election - long enough for election campaigns to last. And we could avoid lots of irritating ads.

Shorten the ballot. We have one of the longest ballots in the nation. We don’t need to vote for 10 Council of State offices and won’t be greatly disadvantaged by not voting for the Commisisoners of Agriculture, Insurance, Labor and Lieutenant Governor. To ensure independence in office there is some wisdom in voting for the Governor and Lieutenant Governor (as one), Attorney General, Secretary of State, Treasurer and Auditor.

 And practically nobody knows the candidates in judicial races. Other states have adopted, and our state should devise a merit system where judges at all levels are appointed and, after a term can be reconfirmed if deserving.

We’ve just cut our lengthy state ballot by about one-third. A shorter ballot might mean voters actually get all the way down it to vote.

Make election day a state holiday. Fewer than 1 in 4 registered voters bothered to vote in the 2024 statewide primary election and, in one of the most hotly contested president elections, only 3 out of 4 voted. If we believe that every vote matters, we must get more voters to the polls. One good way to encourage this is to make sure they can’t use work as an excuse for not voting.

Eliminate partisan gerrymandering. In his farewell address, George Washington warned us of the dangers of partisan politics. We see his warnings playing out today. Political parties once had a genuine purpose but with modern communications they’ve become little more than money-laundering operations. Besides, each party contains so many splinter groups that neither speaks with one voice.

As stated earlier voters don’t really know the candidates, voting mostly for their party affiliation. Let’s stop listing a candidate’s party affiliation on the ballot. Every candidate has an equal chance. Voters might have to learn something about the candidates. Elected officials represent all of us, not just their party.

Eliminate runoff elections. Fewer than 5 percent of North Carolina’s registered voters cast ballots in 2024 runoff elections, costing some $7 million. The real crime is that many candidates advanced merely by winning a tiny fraction of eligible voters.

We once demanded that a candidate win 50 percent plus 1 vote to claim victory in a primary. Today that margin is only be 30 percent, yet we still have costly, antiquated runoffs. Some favor we institute ranked choice voting. We have a better idea.

Let’s couple the previous recommendation with this one and return to yesteryear. Anyone who wishes may file to run for a political office. Yes, that is going to mean we have lots of names on the ballot, flying in the face of our efforts to shorten the ballot.

On primary election day we declare that the top 3 vote-getters from among all who ran are eligible to run in the general election. In that contest the one who gets the most total votes is elected, decided without regard to their political affiliation and without having to spend money and time in a runoff. And we’ve overcome corrupt gerrymandering.

Identify all donors to a political election. The US Supreme Court, in its Citizens United verdict, put handcuffs on states regarding campaign finance reform, but the state does have some leeway. Let’s pass laws that political parties cannot, whether by in-kind or actual cash donations, contribute any more to a candidate than our current campaign laws permit any individual.

And we may not be able to prohibit these independent expenditure groups from bundling campaign contributions, but we can and must pass laws to require that they identify every person, every entity that gives them money and make reports available on a real time basis so we can know who donors are. It is a small step but can help.

So ponder these 6 ways we can improve our elections and if so disposed, let us press the case for them to be implemented. We welcome your suggestions.

Elections are a terrible thing to waste, corrupt or abuse.

 Tom Campbell is a Hall of Fame North Carolina broadcaster and columnist who has covered North Carolina public policy issues since 1965.  Contact him at tomcamp@ncspin.com