Statement of Support — North Carolina Green Party

North Carolina Green Party
146 Robert Alston Jr. Dr, Pittsboro, NC 27312

To: North Carolina State Board of Elections
Re: Statement of Support for Gunnar Wieboldt

Greetings to the Board,

This letter is in support of Mr. Gunnar Wieboldt’s petition to be placed on the ballot as an independent candidate for NC House 54 in the fall 2026 election. Mr. Wieboldt seeks to satisfy the requirements of G.S. 163-122.

It is the position of the NC Green Party that the laws governing the participation of minor parties and independents in North Carolina are an impediment to participation in the political process. These laws are made by the major political parties, without citizen input. They work to the advantage of the major parties, as the laws protect them from having to contest elections with independents and minor party candidates in all but those cases where the candidates or parties can spend the money and time needed to collect the signatures. Recent rule changes have made the process even more onerous. The major parties are conveniently exempt from having to prove their own acceptance by voters.

A consequence of this, true in other states as well as in North Carolina, is that candidates often run unchallenged. In effect, the major parties have divided the state among themselves, with whichever party is in power seeking to gerrymander the other party out of competition for legislative majorities at both the state and national level. The resulting divided territories aren’t contested, as the voters are already chosen to support the candidates in those districts.

The resulting gamed, non-competitive elections do no favors to the citizens of North Carolina. But they are especially injurious to non-affiliated voters and voters aligned with other parties. Voters do not register as independent or as members of another party because they are Republican or Democrat. They do so because their political positions are not adequately represented within the two-party system, but they are barred from supporting their own candidates in most cases. This is especially true for unaffiliated voters.

Mr. Wieboldt has done his best to meet your standards, which are difficult even for well-funded candidates who can hire signature collectors. We ask the board or other authoritative body to accept Mr. Wieboldt’s candidacy, and place him on the ballot in the coming general election.

Sincerely,

M. Wayne Turner
The Coordinating Committee of the North Carolina Green Party
Wayne Turner and Anna Lee Dillon, presiding