All NC Counties
Below is a table of all 100 NC counties, with a link to the county website and information about the county commission model. First there is 1) a description of the table columns and 2) a description of the county commission model codes. Footnotes are listed at the end of the table.
Explanation of the table columns:
| County | Name of county, including a link to the county website. |
| 2021 Redraw | “Y” indicates that the county has pure districts and may need to redraw county district boundaries in 2021. The percentage after the “Y” is the FCNC calculation of 2020 Census population differences in the county districts. Over 10% difference indicates that the county should redraw districts in 2021. Read about the equal population requirement here. |
| No. of Comms. | Number of county commissioners. |
| Model | There are a variety of commissioner models NC counties use for electing county commissioners. See below for the meaning of the model codes. |
| Model Details | Some counties have a mixed model. For example, Bladen County’s commission is 6d; 3al; l. This indicates that 6 commissioners are elected by district (pure districts), 3 commissioners are elected at large, and Bladen uses a Limited Voting Plan (if four seats are open, say, voters can cast a ballot for only three of these races). |
| Terms | Number of years for the commissioners’ term in office. An “S” next to the term length (for “staggered”) means only some of the seats are up for election in any given year. |
| Footnotes | See below for footnotes. |
County Commission Model Abbreviations
| d | Commissioners nominated (in the primary) and elected by district (pure district). |
| al | Commissioners nominated (in the primary) and elected at large (pure at-large). |
| dal | Residence in district required, but typically nominated and elected at-large. Unless otherwise noted, the dal sub-type is dal2 (the whole county votes for each seat in the primary as well as the general) — see Commission Structure page for details. |
| cda | Combination of pure district and pure at-large seats. |
| cdal | Combination of pure at-large (al) seats and district-at-large (dal) seats (residency districts, elected at-large). |
| l | Limited voting plan (voters limited to casting fewer votes than the number of open seats for a given position). |
| l/al | Combination of limited voting and at-large seats. |
| m | Mixed. |
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Table Footnotes
1. Limited voting system. Candidates file as a group for open seats and voters may vote for only 1 candidate. Both primary and general election results are determined by plurality.
2. Six members elected to numbered seats from 3 2-member districts; 3 at-large members elected concurrently. Primary result is determined by plurality, with each voter limited to 1 vote.
3. Chair elected separately.
4. Six members elected to numbered seats from 3 2-member districts for staggered 4-year terms; at-large member elected for 4-year term.
5. Two members nominated and elected by district; 5 nominated by district and elected at large across the 5 remaining districts.
6. Forsythe. One 2-member district; 1 4-member district; 1 at-large member.
7. Member elected with highest number of votes serves as chair.
8. Limited voting plan. One 2-member district; 1 3-member district. Voters in 2 member district may vote for only 1 candidate. Voters in 3-member district may vote for 2 candidates.
9. Six single-member districts; 3 consolidated districts formed by combining single-member districts.
10. Commissioners are elected at-large with a limited voting plan. Primaries are conducted on a partisan basis, with the top vote-getters in each party moving to the general election.
11. Voters in Onslow County approved referendum in 2016 to add two Board seats, to be elected in 2018, increasing the Board from 5 to 7 members.
12. Effective in 2018, the Jones County board increased from 5 to 7 members, elected by district, as the result of a lawsuit settlement.
13. Orange County and Carteret County use a different type of residency districts (district-at-large or DAL seats) than do other counties with DAL seats. We have labeled this variant DAL1. For these seats, only the voters in the district vote (nominate) in the primary, but all voters countywide vote (elect) in the general election. In all other counties with DAL seats, all voters countywide vote for all of the open seats in both the primary and the general. (See the Commission Structure page for more information on this topic.)
13a. Carteret (7 members). 1 2-member district; 5 1-member districts.
13b. Orange (7 members). 1 3-member district; 1 2-member district; 2 at-large.
14. Currituck County uses a CDAL model, with 2 at-large seats and 5 residency districts (DAL) seats. The DAL seats are sub-type DAL2, where, for each seat, all county voters vote to nominate in the primary and then to elect in the general election.
15. Buncombe (7 members). 3 2-member districts; 1 at-large member.
16. Cumberland (7 members). 1 2-member district; 1 3-member district; 2 at-large members.
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CD. Consent Decree. The county remains under an active court judgment or consent order with regard to its county commissioner structure as the result of a prior settlement in a Voting Rights Act lawsuit. See the Commission Structure page, Consent Decree topic, for more information.