Election Websites: North Carolina

Fact Sheet Read time:
Projects: Election Initiatives & Government Performance Project
Election Websites: North Carolina

Return to report home page.

Researchers assessed state election websites for the Pew Center on the States between May-November 2010, using detailed criteria evaluating the content, lookup tools, and usability. Websites may have changed since they were assessed. See methodology (PDF).

Strengths include:

  • All five recommended lookup tools, including a unique polling place locator that is accessible by street address and features images of the entrance, interior, exterior, and parking for each location, as well as a list of elections for each precinct dating to the early 1990s.
  • An integrated “Voter Lookup” interface that allows voters to see their ballot content and check the status of their registration, absentee ballot, or provisional ballot.
  • Comprehensive instructions for how to cast a ballot, including identification requirements, polling place hours, and descriptions of voting systems.
  • Information on a voter's right to cast a provisional ballot.
  • Complete list of upcoming election dates.
  • Contact information for state and local election officials.
  • Timely and user-friendly online election results.
  • Consistent, logical navigation system.
  • Exemplary use of a website search function, offering easy access to a simple-to-use, empty search field on every page.

Recommended improvements include:

  • Use a secure server, especially in the “Voter Lookup” section where site users enter sensitive personal information (35 states offer).
  • Provide a privacy policy to inform site users of the agency's data collection practices (42 states offer).
  • Offer information about statewide ballot measures (43 states offer), such as full texts, summaries, and analyses.
  • Link to the Federal Election Commission database of campaign finance reports for congressional candidates (37 states offer).
  • Provide a list of official state political parties (38 states offer).
  • Offer candidate information such as e-mail addresses (19 states offer), website (20 offer), phone numbers (23 offer), and occupations (6 offer).
  • Provide on the homepage prominent links that are not solely image-based to important information.
  • Simplify the street address search of the polling place locator by using fewer fields.
  • Describe what information users will receive from the “Voter Lookup” tool.

Noteworthy Feature: Across the top of every page, North Carolina innovatively displays a line showing current voter registration totals in the state, broken down by political party. This set of statistics often is difficult to find on state election websites.

Initial Quick Fix: Consolidate information for military and overseas voters into one page, rather than featuring some on the military voters' page and some on the absentee voting page.

Summary: North Carolina offers all five recommended lookup tools. The website has a clean design and is easy to navigate, earning an above-average score for usability.

www.ncsbe.gov was assessed for content and lookup tools.

www.sboe.state.nc.us was assessed for usability.

America’s Overdose Crisis
America’s Overdose Crisis

America’s Overdose Crisis

Sign up for our five-email course explaining the overdose crisis in America, the state of treatment access, and ways to improve care

Sign up
Quick View
America’s Overdose Crisis

America’s Overdose Crisis

Sign up for our five-email course explaining the overdose crisis in America, the state of treatment access, and ways to improve care

Sign up
RELATED
Tags
Election administration
Projects
Election Initiatives Government Performance Project
Places
North Carolina

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

An adult and a child huddle in front of a laptop computer, their faces lit by the screen, with a room and bright windows behind them.

Article

November 27, 2023 Researchers Share How State Grants Boost Broadband Access
A group of teenagers gather in a park with bikes, their silhouettes in high contrast to the cloudy sky behind them.

Article

November 2, 2023 Insights on Brain Development Can Improve Youth Justice
A two-lane road runs through hilly, forested terrain, with vibrant green grass and green- and yellow-leafed trees on each side of the pavement. A small house is visible at the bottom of the road, and larger forested mountains fill the horizon beyond it.

Article

October 10, 2023 Western North Carolina Explores Resilience Planning

MORE FROM PEW

A pair of white and black Adélie penguins standing in the middle of a clump of snow face opposite directions. Seeing Antarctic Change, Scientist Calls for Stronger Action
A shipyard with towers in the foreground, a barge on a river, and a blue sky in the background. Louisiana Primed to Take Helm of Offshore Wind Supply Chain
About a dozen people stand examining large blue bins full of whole fish in a warehouse. Some people are in green clothes, others in blue, and all wear ballcaps. A few hold clipboards. Reducing Risk Strengthens the Seafood Supply Chain
A worker in a seafood market dumps bright orange shrimp from a blue bin onto a bed of ice between a lot of other seafood laid out for sale. Other workers are visible in the background, as are the arms of shoppers placing orders from the other side of the ice bed. Seafood Industry Benefits From Greater Vessel Transparency
Composite image of modern city network communication concept

Learn the Basics of Broadband from Our Limited Series

Sign up for our four-week email course on Broadband Basics
Quick View

How does broadband internet reach our homes, phones, and tablets? What kind of infrastructure connects us all together? What are the major barriers to broadband access for American communities?

Pills illustration
Pills illustration

What Is Antibiotic Resistance—and How Can We Fight It?

Sign up for our four-week email series The Race Against Resistance.
Quick View
Pills illustration

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, also known as “superbugs,” are a major threat to modern medicine. But how does resistance work, and what can we do to slow the spread? Read personal stories, expert accounts, and more for the answers to those questions in our four-week email series: Slowing Superbugs.