North Carolina Voter Records
Individual-level data on all citizens who are registered to vote in the State of North Carolina. Voter files include registration status, voter history records, voting activity, as well as geographic information.
All citizens of North Carolina who have either voted or registered to vote in a statewide election.
Access
Individual-level, identified voter record data for the State of North Carolina are available for download through a public website. Both voter registration and voter history records are available, organized in statewide and county-level files. These Public Records are also available here.
Those who wish to access data beyond what is available online may submit their requests through the website request form. Depending on the information requested, the agency can send the information requested through email or place them on a CD or USB. The researcher must specify how they would like to receive the information requested. While approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) is not required by the state to receive identified data, if researchers expect to link voter records with external data sets they should confirm IRB requirements with those collaborating data providers. Researchers can direct additional questions regarding the public records request process to Patrick Gannon at [email protected]. Other questions can be directed directly to the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) at [email protected].
Timeline for Access
Data are available for immediate download. If requesting data via the request form, the expected time can vary depending on the broadness of the request, current open requests, and the document review process.
Lag Time
Both, voter registration files and voter history files are updated weekly, typically every Saturday morning. Historical voter registration snapshots are also available on the website. Voter history records are updated typically within a few weeks after elections, but this may take months if counties need more time finalizing results.
Cost
Downloadable data are available free of charge. There may be additional costs for sending the information via CD or USB.
Linking
Researchers may use the identifiers included in the voter list to link the data to external data sets. Data set does not include date of birth, social security number, driver’s license number, and signature, although this information is collected by the election board.
Identifiers Available for Linking
- Age and birth year
- District and County information
- First, middle, and last name
- Mailing Address
- North Carolina ID (NCID)
- Race, ethnicity, gender
- Residential address
Data Contents
North Carolina voter records include two file types.
The first details voter registration data and is organized at the voter level. Voter registration data reflect the current records of registered voters, people formerly registered to vote, and individuals who started but did not complete the registration process.
These data include information regarding registration status, voting activity, and voting precinct locations, and contain name, address, and demographic information for all citizens who are registered to vote in the state of North Carolina. These records do not disclose for which candidates or ballot questions the individual chose to vote.
It also includes the current voter registration database, voter registration snapshots, and historical registered voter stats. The voter registration snapshots of election day databases for most elections go back at least 10 years and are available here. Data are available in tab-delimited .txt files, either by county or statewide. There are 100 counties in North Carolina. The snapshots include two types of voter registration files, the ones taken on Election day and the ones taken on the first day of each year. The election day registration snapshots are available only as statewide files. The Historical Registered Voter Stats contain demographics data at the time of an election in North Carolina for registered voters, and go back 20+ years.
The second file type details voter history data in elections for the past ten years, with a unique entry for each election that each registered voter participated in. The two types of files can be linked by NCIDs or by county and unique voter registration numbers.
Voter history includes information on each election than a voter participated over the past 10 years, and also history stat files on group-level counts of voters that participated in a specific election over the last 20+ years.
Partial List of Variables
Current Voter registration: County identification number, county name, voter registration number (unique to county), North Carolina identification (NCID) number, last name, first name, middle name, suffix name, registration status code, registration status description, registration status reason code, registration status reason description, residential address, city, state code, zip code, mailing address and same variables as residential address, phone number, registration date, race code, ethnicity code, registered party code, gender/sex code, year of birth, age at end of the year, birth state, driver’s license (Y/N). For precinct, municipality, ward, congressional district, superior court, judicial district, Senate, House, county, and township there are name and abbreviation variables by jurisdiction. For school, fire, water, sewer, sanitation, rescue, municipal, prosecutorial, and voter tabulation there are name and abbreviation variables by district.
Voter History: county identification number, county name, voter registration number, election date label, election description, voting method, party voted, voted party name, voted party code, precinct code, precinct name, NCID, voting county, voting tabulation district label, and voting tabulation name.
J-PAL Randomized Evaluations Using this Data Set
Hastings, Justine S., Thomas J. Kane, Douglas O. Staiger, Jeffrey M. Weinstein. 2007. “The effect of randomized school admissions on voter participation.” Journal of Public Economics 91 (5-6): 915-937. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2006.11.007