Daily Update - April 9, 2026

Change the Voting Years

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Voters are worn out, and the numbers prove it. In Wilmington, turnout was close to 70% in the 2024 general election, but it plunged to around 30% in the 2025 municipal contests, even though the same voters still live here—they just stayed home. Belville, North Carolina, a small town just across the river, saw the same frustration and decided to act, unanimously changing its town charter so local elections will be held only in even-numbered years alongside partisan races. Town leaders say this shift is aimed squarely at overcoming voter fatigue and reviving citizen engagement.

This Wilmington Standard Daily Update explains that there is no real cost savings in holding separate odd-year elections: polling places still have to open, staff must still be hired, and the full machinery of a secure election must be funded every single year. Instead, the real opportunity lies in aligning local races with higher-turnout cycles, just as Charlotte and Winston-Salem already do, by petitioning the General Assembly to amend local charters and adjust current terms. If a small town like Belville can make this change, the question for Wilmington and the beach municipalities is simple: what are we waiting for?

Tired of endless elections? A small town on the other side of the river can lead the way out.

This is the Wilmington Standard Daily Update for Thursday April 9, 2026

Belville, North Carolina – best known as being the first exit off route 17 after going over the big bridge – has voted unanimously to change its town charter to host elections only during the even years of partisan races. According to Mayor Chuck Boost, the move was done in part to overcome voter fatigue and decreasing voter turnout:

They were like: ‘Every time I turn around, there’s an election,’” [the mayor] said. “They say, ‘I didn’t even know anybody was running until I started seeing campaign signs come up.’

He is right. Here in Wilmington – as in most but not all places in North Carolina – elections happen every year and those in the odd years are usually non-partisan. And just like Belville, those odd year elections have the worst of turn outs. According to the state board of elections, in 2024 the election turnout for Wilmington was close to 70%. In 2025 – around 30%. Those voters did not go anywhere. They just simply did not show up to vote.

There is no major cost difference of running even year elections and odd year elections. Voting places and stations still need to be setup, voting officials still need to be hired and paid, and all the associated other costs that go into running a secure election still need to be put in a budget. It is not cheap – and we do it every year.

All it takes to change is for the local government – in this case the City of Wilmington and the beach town municipalities – to petition the state government to change their charters. That request gets sent to the General Assembly – the issue of current terms of office is worked out to either lengthen or curtail them to fit the new schedule – and quicker than you can say “Y’all its not the heat it’s the humidity” we go from election fatigue to time needed away from the polls.

Charlotte already does it. Winston-Salem does as well. If a little town on the other side of the river named Belville can do it, why can’t we?

For the Wilmington Standard, I’m Reuel Sample. Thanks for listening.

Reuel Sample is the Editor-in-Chief of The Wilmington Standard. A graduate of Grove City College and Princeton Theological Seminary, he has served as both a Presbyterian Pastor and a Navy Chaplain. He is the product of a classical liberal arts education combined with real world experience in politics and business and conservative Christian worldview firmly rooted in the Reformed tradition. He is the host of several podcasts including the NHC GOP Podcast, the Pastor's Voice, and co-hosts the Nikki and Reuel Podcast Experience. An avid sailor, he has sailed around the world as a youth and to the Azores as a teen as well as extensive trips up and down the east coast of the United States. He is honored to be married to his wife Pam and makes his home in Wilmington, NC.