In North Carolina's May 8 primary, all Tar Heel voters will confront new district boundaries for Congress, the Statehouse and the N.C. Senate. And in Buncombe County, the commissioners will now also be chosen via district elections.

To help voters keep up with these changes, assistance is available both by phone and online:
• Call the Buncombe County Board of Elections 24/7 at 250-4200 and follow the recorded instructions to receive your individual voting overview. Or

• Go to the State Board of Elections’ Voter Lookup page (http://avl.mx/d2). Click on "My Election Information." Fill in the blanks and click "submit" to confirm your party status, precinct number and voting location. You can also view personalized sample ballots, depending on how you’re registered (Democratic, Libertarian, Republican or unaffiliated), that tell you which candidates will be on your ballot. Unaffiliated voters can choose any party’s ballot or a nonpartisan ballot containing only the proposed amendment to the state constitution (which appears on all of them).

With at least 30 possible ballot variations in Buncombe County alone, there's a dizzying array of choices for candidates. Here's a short list. (For a list of candidates running for statewide office, such as the governors race, go the state Board of Elections website.)

N.C. House District 114 (Asheville)

Democrat: Susan C. Fisher
Republican: none

N.C. House District 115 (West Buncombe):

Democrat: Susan E. Wilson
Republicans: Nathan Ramsey

N.C. House District 116 (East Buncombe)

Democrat: Jane Whilden
Republicans: Tim Moffitt

N.C. Senate District 48 (Henderson County)

Democrat: (none)
Republicans: Tom Apodaca, Fremont V. Brown III

N.C. Senate District 49 (Buncombe County)

Democrat: Martin L. Nesbitt
Republicans: R L Clark, Chancellor von Henner

Register of Deeds (Buncombe County)

Democrat: Marie Hall, Drew Reisinger, Johnny L. House
Republicans: Pat Cothran

Buncombe County Commissioners District 1

Democrat: Tracey DeBruhl, Holly Jones, Brownie Newman, Aixa Wilson, Keith Young
Republicans: Don Guge

Buncombe County Commissioners District 2

Democrat: Ellen Frost, JoAnn M Morgan, Carol Peterson
Republicans: Mike Fryar, Christina Kelley G. Merrill, Bill Reynolds

Buncombe County Commissioners District 3

Democrat: Randy Flack, Terry Van Duyn, Michelle Pace Wood
Republicans: David King, Robert Knapp, Linda Southard, Chuck Archerd, Joe Belcher

Buncombe County Commissioners Chair

Democrat: David Gantt, Milton Byrd
Republicans: JB Howard, Glenda Weinert

U.S. House District 10

Democrat: Patsy Keever, Timothy Murphy, Terry Bellamy
Republicans: Ken H. Fortenberry, Patrick McHenry, Don Peterson

U.S. House of Reps., District 11

Democrat: Tom Hill, Hayden Rogers, Cecil Bothwell
Republicans: Susan Harris, Jeff Hunt, Mark Meadows, Vance Patterson, Chris Petrella, Kenny West, Ethan Wingfield, Spence Campbell