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President
The president is the head of the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander in chief of the armed forces of the United States. The president has the power to veto legislation from Congress, appoint cabinet officials, grant pardons, and with the consent of the U.S. Senate, make treaties and appoint members of the U.S. Supreme Court.
The president must be a natural-born U.S. citizen, at least 35 years old, and must have been a permanent resident of the United States for at least 14 years prior to being elected.
The president is elected through the Electoral College, a system in which each state has a proportional number of electoral votes based on its relative population. A candidate needs to win at least 270 electoral votes to become president. The president serves a four-year term. The U.S. Constitution limits the president to two four-year terms.
U.S. Senate
The U.S. Senate is one of two halves of the U.S. Congress, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the other half. The Senate passes federal legislation. There are 100 members of the Senate, two from each state. Senators are elected statewide in their home state and serve six-year terms. In order to be eligible to serve in the U.S. Senate, a person must be at least 30 years old, a citizen for at least nine years at the time of the election and a resident of the state where he or she is elected.
U.S. House of Representatives
The U.S. House of Representatives is one of two halves of the U.S. Congress, with the U.S. Senate being the other half. With the Senate, the House passes federal legislation. There are 435 members of the U.S. House, with each state being allocated seats proportionally based on population. Each state has at least one representative.
Representatives are elected in congressional districts in their home state, with one member representing a single district. North Carolina has 13 members of the U.S. House, each representing his or her own district.
In order to be eligible to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, a person must be at least 25 years old, a citizen of the United States for at least seven years before being elected, and a resident of the state in which he or she is elected. Members of the U.S. House serve two-year terms.
Governor
The governor leads the executive branch of state government and is the head of the Council of State. The governor has the power to veto legislation from the state legislature, along with the authority to appoint executive-branch officials, members of state boards and commissions and to appoint judges to fill vacancies on the state courts.
The governor is elected statewide and serves a four-year term. The N.C. Constitution limits the governor to serving two consecutive four-year terms.
Lieutenant Governor
The lieutenant governor is the only elected official in North Carolina’s state government to have powers in both the executive and legislative branches, serving as the president of the N.C. Senate. The lieutenant governor succeeds the governor in the event that the office of governor is vacated. The lieutenant governor is elected independently of the governor and may be a member of a different political party.
The lieutenant governor is elected statewide and serves a four-year term.
Attorney General
The attorney general is the head of the N.C. Department of Justice, providing legal representation and counsel to state agencies. The state attorney general does not have the power to prosecute crimes unless asked to do so by the local district attorney.
The attorney general is elected statewide and serves a four-year term.
Commissioner of Agriculture
The commissioner of agriculture is the head of the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which regulates and oversees agronomy, animal health, weights and measures, gas and oil inspection and state farm operations, along with food, drug and cosmetic testing and the state fair.
The commissioner of agriculture is elected statewide and serves a four-year term.
Commissioner of Insurance
The commissioner of insurance heads the Department of Insurance, which regulates the insurance industry, licenses insurance professionals and others, educates consumers about different types of insurance, handles consumer complaints, and interprets the state’s building codes. The commissioner of insurance also is the state fire marshal.
The commissioner of insurance is elected statewide and serves a four-year term.
Commissioner of Labor
The commissioner of labor is the head of the N.C. Department of Labor, which is charged with promoting the "health, safety and general well-being" of more than 4 million workers in the state.
The commissioner of insurance is elected statewide and serves a four-year term.
Secretary of State
The secretary of state heads the N.C. Department of the Secretary of State, which oversees many of the economic and business-related operations of the state government, providing accurate and timely information and preserving documents and records.
The secretary of state is elected statewide and serves a four-year term.
State Auditor
The Office of the Auditor serves to monitor and audit state government by providing citizens, legislators and government officials with professional, independent evaluations of the state’s financial records and public program performance. The state auditor also assesses the security and integrity of the state’s information technology systems, as well as providing monitoring and technical assistance for private nonprofit recipients of state grant funds.
The state auditor is elected statewide and serves a four-year term.
State Treasurer
The state treasurer is responsible for overseeing the financial operations of state government, which includes managing the state’s pension fund covering more than 700,000 North Carolinians, along with supervising the state’s banking system.
The state treasurer is elected statewide and serves a four-year term.
Superintendent of Public Instruction
The state superintendent of public instruction heads the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, which is the agency charged with implementing the state’s public school laws and the State Board of Education’s policies and procedures governing pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade public education.
The state superintendent of public instruction is elected statewide and serves a four-year term.
N.C. Supreme Court
The N.C. Supreme Court is the state’s highest court. It hears appeals of cases from the Court of Appeals and of cases in which the death penalty has been imposed. There is no further appeal in North Carolina of its decisions, but in limited instances involving federal law, the U.S. Supreme Court may consider appeals from the North Carolina court.
There are no juries in the N.C. Supreme Court. Its chief justice and six associate justices hear all cases together, as one sitting court. They consider errors in legal procedures or in interpretation of the law by a lower court.
Members of the N.C. Supreme Court are elected statewide in nonpartisan races and serve for eight-year terms.
N.C. Court of Appeals
The N.C. Court of Appeals hears appeals of all kinds of decisions of the state Superior and District Courts (the trial courts), from divorce and family cases to business and tax cases. It also hears appeals from state administrative agencies. There are no juries in the Court of Appeals. The 15 judges sit in rotating panels of three, considering errors in legal procedures or in judicial interpretation of the law. If a vote is 2-1, the losing party has an automatic right to appeal the decision to the N.C. Supreme Court.
Judges in the N.C. Court of Appeals are elected statewide in nonpartisan races and serve eight-year terms.
N.C. Senate
The N.C. Senate is one of two halves of the North Carolina Legislature and, along with the N.C. House, passes state legislation. There are 50 members of the N.C. Senate, with each member representing his or her own Senate district.
In order to serve in the N.C. Senate, a person must be at least 25 years of age, a qualified voter in North Carolina, and a resident for two years in North Carolina and the Senate district for one year immediately preceding the election.
Members of the N.C. Senate are elected in their Senate district and serve two-year terms.
N.C. House of Representatives
The N.C. House is one of two halves of the North Carolina Legislature and, along with the N.C. Senate, passes state legislation. There are 120 members of the N.C. House, with each member representing his or her own House district.
In order to serve in the N.C. House, a person must be at least 21 years old, a qualified North Carolina voter and a resident of the House district for at least one year immediately before the election.
Members of the N.C. House are elected in their House district and serve for a two-year term.
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