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Read. Follow. Verify.North Carolina House Bill 541 authorizes optional ranked-choice same-day primary runoffs and appropriates $410,000 annually
Last action · March 27, 2025: Ref To Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House (House action)Sponsors: Marcia Morey and 5 others
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What This Bill Would Do
North Carolina political parties are granted the option to use a top-two, same-day ranked-choice runoff method in primaries where no candidate achieves thirty percent of the vote, replacing traditional second primaries. The legislation appropriates $410,000 nonrecurring for each year of the 2025-2027 fiscal biennium to the State Board of Elections for ballot design, technology updates, and voter education, taking effect December 1, 2025.
Voters in participating primary elections will be permitted to rank up to three candidates on their ballots to determine a runoff winner in a single election event, avoiding subsequent low-turnout second primaries, while the state allocates $410,000 per year for system upgrades and public training.
- North Carolina historically utilizes secondary primaries for certain state and local offices when no candidate achieves the required threshold of the vote. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Political parties in North Carolina
Political parties are granted the option to request a top-two, same-day runoff method in selected primary elections.
Voters in primary elections
Voters are permitted to rank up to three candidates on their primary ballots and participate in same-day runoffs.
State Board of Elections
The State Board is required to design ballots, update IT systems, and develop voter education and training programs.
Key Facts
- Political parties may request an optional top-two, same-day runoff method if a divided primary vote threatens to prevent any candidate from attaining thirty percent of the vote.
- Voters in a selected multicandidate primary may rank up to three candidates in order of preference.
- If no candidate reaches thirty percent of first-preference votes, the top two candidates advance, and second- and third-preference votes from eliminated candidates are tabulated to determine the winner.
- The runoff method applies to federal or State offices including United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, Council of State, State Senate, State House of Representatives, and elected judicial and county offices, but excludes presidential primaries.
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- Political parties must file a written request for a top-two runoff with the Executive Director of the State Board within 21 days after the filing deadline, or with the respective county board of elections for single-county legislative or county offices.
- The State Board of Elections is directed to develop an easy-to-understand ranking ballot that integrates with existing voting equipment and Statewide Elections Information Management System (SEIMS).
- The bill appropriates $410,000 nonrecurring from the General Fund to the State Auditor for each year of the 2025-2027 fiscal biennium for the State Board of Elections.
- Of the annual appropriation, $210,000 is allocated for information technology development and SEIMS integration, and $200,000 is allocated for statewide education and training.
- Appropriation provisions become effective July 1, 2025, and the remainder of the act becomes effective December 1, 2025.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which elections are eligible for the optional top-two, same-day runoff method?
How does a political party request the top-two runoff?
How are votes counted under this ranked preference system?
How much funding is allocated to implement this change?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
3 actions- Mar 27, 2025HouseRef To Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
- Mar 27, 2025HousePassed 1st Reading
- Mar 26, 2025HouseIntroducedFiled
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
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Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Introduction of Optional Ranked Runoffs
The legislation allows political parties to substitute traditional second primaries with a same-day ranked-choice voting method modeled on a 2010 Court of Appeals election.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.ncleg.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance65How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy45Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz35Current news / social attention level
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