North Carolina General Assembly Intervenes On Ballot Wording, State Supreme Court Race
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina legislature returned briefly to business Tuesday so Republicans could wrest the seemingly ordinary work of adding titles to proposed constitutional amendments on November ballots out of the hands of a state panel controlled by Democrats.
But GOP legislators, who called themselves back for a special session, also decided to intervene in this fall's only state Supreme Court race, where a candidate's late party-switch appeared to hurt the GOP incumbent's chances to win. Democrats blasted the interference in both matters while tens of thousands of tax dollars were spent to hold the session.
Gov. Roy Cooper could soon veto the two pieces of legislation the General Assembly approved by late Tuesday, accentuating high stakes in an election year despite its lack of marquee statewide races.
Republicans are seeking to dampen the Democrats' energized efforts to end the GOP's veto-proof majorities in the legislature. Six constitutional amendments could boost conservative voter turnout in November, and some amendments, if approved, would erode some of Cooper's powers and enshrine a voter ID mandate in the North Carolina Constitution. Democrats also are aiming to extend their recently-obtained 4-3 majority on the state's highest court, which sometimes rules on the legality of General Assembly action.
http://www.bpr.org/post/north-carolina-general-assembly-intervenes-ballot-wording-state-supreme-court-race
