RALEIGH -- Elections board offices are now getting the first batch of candidates in North Carolina this November for Congress, the legislature, district attorneys and county positions. 

The candidate filing period began at noon Monday and continues weekdays through Feb. 28. 

Candidates turn in their paperwork to the state board in Raleigh or at a county board office, depending on the position they are seeking. 

Meanwhile, a late effort by Democrats and voting rights groups to change legislative districts before candidate filing begins in North Carolina has been rejected by state judges. 

A three-judge panel denied a request Monday by the plaintiffs in a long-standing state redistricting case to have several districts in and around Charlotte and Raleigh altered so they are identical to those approved by federal judges in a similar mapping lawsuit. 

The U.S. Supreme Court last week decided those map changes should be delayed while Republican lawmakers appeal, but the plaintiffs in the state case argued a state court could still intervene because the issue involved the state constitution.

Despite Monday's decision, dozens of districts have been altered compared to the 2016 election by a federal court and the legislature. 

Primaries are May 8. Candidates for trial and appellate court seats don't file until June because the legislature canceled primaries for these positions this year.