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Rules governing party labels in school board elections

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Key school board election terms and policies
Key terms
• On-cycle elections
• Off-cycle elections
• Off-year elections
• Off-date elections
• Party labels
• Partisan elections
• Nonpartisan elections
Key policies:
• Election dates and timing
• Party labels on the ballot


Across the country, there are 13,024 public school districts governed by a total of about 82,600 board members. Most school board members are elected directly by voters, while a small number of districts have appointed school board members or a combination of appointed and elected school board members.

Over 90% of school boards are elected in nonpartisan elections, which means party labels for school board candidates are not displayed on the ballot. In four states, school board members are elected in partisan elections, which means voters do see the political parties with which school board candidates are affiliated displayed on the ballot. In five states, state laws effectively provide the option of partisan and nonpartisan elections for school boards.

On this page you will find:

Laws governing party labels in school board elections in each state

Click your state on the map or in the list of links below to navigate to an article about party labels in school board elections in that state.

https://ballotpedia.org/Party_labels_in_STATE_school_board_elections

Overview of state laws governing party labels in school board elections in the U.S.

Across the country, there are 13,187 public school districts governed by a total of 83,183 school board members. They are elected directly by voters except for a small handful of exceptions who are appointed.

As of July 2025, over 85% of school boards are elected without any party labels on the ballot identifying the candidates' affiliation with a political party. State laws in five states containing 1,169 school districts (9%) provide for party labels on the ballot for school board elections. In five states containing 554 districts (4%), state laws effectively provide for both the option of including or not including party labels on the ballot for school board elections. In the remaining states with elected local school board members, state law provides for school board elections without the inclusion of party labels on the ballot.

Elections in which party labels are included on the ballot are referred to as partisan elections. Elections in which party labels are not included on the ballot are referred to as nonpartisan elections.

The state laws of 40 states containing 11,472 school districts provide for school board elections without party labels identifying the affiliation of candidates listed on the ballot (nonpartisan elections).

State laws of five states provide for school board elections with party labels identifying the affiliation of candidates listed on the ballot (partisan elections):

State laws of five states containing 554 school districts effectively provide both options depending on the district. The details and the number of districts that fall in each category vary among the states. Those five states are:

See also

School board election rules:

School board election coverage:

Terms and context:


Footnotes

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