Filing for the 2022 election is currently scheduled to reopen at 8 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 24 and end at noon on Friday, March 4.

These dates – like everything else in the 2022 election – are subject to change depending on the ruling the North Carolina Supreme Court makes on the lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the congressional and state legislative districts. 

Although the Greensboro City Council districts have not been legally challenged and are not part of the lawsuit, if the NC Supreme Court finds that the congressional and state legislative districts are unconstitutional and have to be redrawn, it’s possible the May 17 primary could be delayed along with the filing deadlines for all offices including the Greensboro City Council election, which was originally scheduled for Tuesday, Oct.  5 and Tuesday, Nov. 2 of 2021.

If the NC Supreme Court overrules the three-judge panel that found the districts constitutional in a ruling on Jan. 11 and finds that the current districts are unconstitutional and have to be redrawn, the North Carolina legislature by law has two weeks to redraw the districts and then those districts have to be approved by the NC Supreme Court.  It’s a lot to get completed in a limited timeframe.

The legislature passed a bill to delay the primary to Tuesday, June 7, to allow more time to redraw the districts if the NC Supreme Court requires it, but NC Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed that bill.  However, the NC Supreme Court could once again delay the primary.

Under the current schedule, with the statewide primary held on May 17, the Greensboro City Council general election would either be held on Tuesday, July 5 or, if there is a runoff primary in one of the 14 congressional races or the statewide Senate race, the runoff primary and the Greensboro City Council general election will be on Tuesday, July 26.

No date in July is one that is likely to result in heavy voter turnout, but holding the City Council general election on the Tuesday following the Monday, July 4 holiday seems to guarantee extremely low voter turnout.