Dems Upset in North Carolina: GOP Eliminates Judicial Primaries

image
Fair VoteFair Vote
Published: 18 Oct, 2017
1 min read

Earlier this month, we reported on the uncertain fate of a ballot access reform bill in North Carolina. That bill has now passed, liberalizing ballot access laws in North Carolina, but also carrying with it controversial elements related to judicial elections.

The bill began as a bipartisan effort to ease North Carolina's excessively harsh ballot access laws. However, it was amended to make other changes to election law, most notably the elimination of judicial primary elections in 2018. This drew opposition from members of the Democratic Party.

As a result, North Carolina's Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, vetoed the bill. The legislature subsequently overrode the veto, making the new bill law.

The new law is good news for ballot access law. As Richard Winger of Ballot Access News put it:

"As a result of the success of SB 656, there are now only four states without some means for a presidential candidate (running outside the two major parties) to get on the ballot with the support of 25,000 or fewer voters: California, Texas, Michigan, and Indiana."

As for the elimination of judicial primaries, we hope it will help spark a conversation about what we expect from our elections. The bill seems to be delaying the primary in anticipation of eliminating the judicial elections altogether, but under the current state of the law, it would simply elect judges in a single round election.

Without a primary, judicial candidates could win with low pluralities.

Historically, North Carolina did elect judges in single-round elections when filling vacancies, but it did so using ranked choice voting to promote majority rule. Perhaps the 2018 judicial elections will encourage North Carolina to consider returning to ranked choice voting.

Editor's note: This article originally published on FairVote's website and has been modified slightly for publication on IVN.

IVP Donate

Photo Credit: Niyazz / shutterstock.com

You Might Also Like

Will the Texas Republican Party be Successful Where the Hawaiian Democratic Party Failed?
Will the Texas Republican Party be Successful Where the Hawaiian Democratic Party Failed?
The Republican Party of Texas (RPT) is suing Secretary of State Jane Nelson in an effort to close the state’s primary elections to party members only – a move that the Democratic Party of Hawaii (DPH) tried back in 2013 in its state and failed. ...
05 Sep, 2025
-
3 min read
Supreme Court building.
Retired Attorney Takes Voting Rights Case All the Way to the Supreme Court -- By Himself
The next big voting rights case the Supreme Court of the United States could consider wasn’t filed by the ACLU, the League of Women Voters, Common Cause, or another household name when it comes to voter rights. ...
09 Sep, 2025
-
5 min read
congress flag
Poll: 82% of Americans Want Redistricting Done by Independent Commission, Not Politicians
There may be no greater indication that voters are not being listened to in the escalating redistricting war between the Republican and Democratic Parties than a new poll from NBC News that shows 8-in-10 Americans want the parties to stop....
10 Sep, 2025
-
3 min read