North Carolina Republicans rig the system by cancelling 2018 judicial elections
In its latest move to dramatically alter the judicial branch, North Carolina state Republicans and several Democrats on Tuesday overturned Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of a bill that would cancel the 2018 judicial primary elections.
Cooper warned that the override was part of an effort to amend the constitution to allow the legislature to pick the state’s judges and “rig the system.”
Legislators also introduced a state constitutional amendment that would shorten the terms for judges to two years — the shortest in the nation. This would ensure that every judge would be on the ballot in the 2018 general election, without a primary to narrow down the number of candidates.
As ThinkProgress has reported, the North Carolina General Assembly has taken multiple actions to transform the judicial branch in the past year, including proposals to limit the governor’s authority to appoint judges, make judicial elections partisan, pack the state supreme court, and “unpack” the court of appeals to preserve the conservative majority. These attacks occurred as the state and federal courts began standing in the way of the legislature’s agenda by protecting voting rights.
https://thinkprogress.org/north-carolina-legislature-cancel-judicial-elections-34f78d9d6669/
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