SALISBURY — When people think of elections, they may associate them as only happening every four years because the presidential election has the highest voter turnout and receives the most media coverage. However, many local and state elections take place every year that end up having just as much of an impact on people’s lives even though they are generally less aware of their existence.

On Nov. 7, the Salisbury City Council will be holding elections to find out who will be a part of the four member delegation starting Dec. 5. The mayoral election will be on a separate ballot, but Mayor Karen Alexander is running unopposed. There is no primary for city council, so there will only be a single, general election to vote for.

Back in June, city council voted to put a referendum on this year’s ballot that could potentially alter the term lengths for its members. Currently, the city charter has council members serving two year non-staggered terms, but voters will have the opportunity to extend them to four year staggered. If the referendum does not win, term lengths will stay the same. If it is approved, then the top two vote-getters for city council in this year’s election would receive four-year terms, the next two vote-getters would receive two-year terms, and afterward, everyone would receive four-year terms when they come back up for re-election. Both the council and mayor’s term changes will not happen until 2025.

North Carolina State Board of Elections Public Information Director Patrick Gannon says that all candidates running for local elections must be registered to vote in North Carolina, be eligible to vote in the election for the office they are seeking, live within city limits, and be 21 years old by the date of the general election.

A person who has a police record can still run for office. They must be eligible to register and vote in the municipality. “To register and vote, you can not be serving a felony sentence, including any period of probation, post-release supervision, or parole. Once a person completes a felony sentence, they are eligible to vote and run for office. As part of filing for office, candidates must affirm whether or not they have ever been convicted of a felony by submitting a felony disclosure form,” according to Gannon.

Administrative Services Director Kelly Baker said that the deadline to file to be on this year’s city council ballot was back in July. Baker explained that once all candidates are finalized, the city works on making sure everyone up for election is kept in the loop on any matters that an individual brings up. This allows all candidates to be on the same page regarding the kind of topics and duties that council members engage in while in office.

“From a staff side, we try and share information with all candidates. So now when we send out packets we send it to all candidates. If we get a question like the copy of the budget, how much is the fire budget? Whatever the questions may be, we would then send that question and the response to all candidates. So we try to ensure that everybody has the same information to be fair and transparent,” Baker said.

City council incumbents Anthony Smith, David Post, Tamara Sheffield, and Harry McLaughlin are seeking re-election. Gemale Black, Charles T. Dean III, Ra Hasan, and Shanikka Loretta Gadson-Harris have submitted their names to the ballot.