New Report Reveals County-by-County Costs To Administer Odd-Year Elections In North Carolina

The North Carolina Office of State Auditor released a performance audit highlighting the public costs of administering odd-year municipal elections across North Carolina. The audit relied on costs for the 2025 municipal elections, including 822,000 people voting across 91 counties this year. The total cost to administer the municipal elections was $8.4 million, with the cost drivers being personnel ($5.1 million), operating costs ($2.1 million), and building and space ($1.1 million). The cost of odd-year elections is generally borne by the participating municipalities and special districts. 

“At the end of the day, elections are local, and this audit breaks down how much it actually costs to run an odd-year election,” said State Auditor Dave Boliek. "Our team performed this work in an effort to clearly identify to taxpayers and policymakers across the state that substantial resources are required to run fair and free elections in our state." 

OSA also calculated the “cost per vote” for each county. Smaller counties had a higher cost per vote due to turnout levels. For example, in Mecklenburg County, the most populated county in North Carolina, 220,805 people voted in the 2025 municipal election. The total cost to administer was $1.2 million and equated to $5.83 per vote. On the other hand, there were only five people who voted in Camden County. The total cost to administer was $7,589, equating to $1,517 per vote. 

The full breakdown of each county’s operation costs can be found in the appendix of the report. The audit does not evaluate the efficiency, necessity, or policy implementations of odd-year elections.