WS Chronicle

By Howard Pearre

When it comes to elections, judges usually get the least amount of attention of all the political races – few yard signs, rare billboards, a total absence of TV ads. But please consider the following questions:

*Why do North Carolinians now have to show a photo ID to vote? 

*Why were approximately 56,000 North Carolina citizens who had the right to vote in 2022 taken off the voter rolls in 2023? 

*Why will North Carolina, a clearly purple state, likely send a significant majority of Republican representatives to the U.S. Congress next January?

The answers to all these questions is that in November 2022, North Carolina voters replaced two Democratic Supreme Court justices with two Republicans who went along with the majority party in Raleigh to ensure its continued power. The Court was changed from a 4-3 Democratic majority to a 5-2 Republican majority.

Six months later in April 2023, the new Court overturned decisions of the previous Court on voter ID requirements, voting by individuals with felony convictions, and gerrymandering. 

In 2020, Donald Trump was able to claim all 15 of North Carolina’s Electoral College votes by winning the state by 74,483 votes, according to CNN (2,758,775 to 2,684,292). This year, the state has 16 Electoral College votes to contribute to the total count. What difference will those rulings by the N.C. Supreme Court make in whether these votes go to Donald Trump again or to Kamala Harris?

The previous court had ruled that requiring photo IDs to vote was unnecessary in light of scant evidence of the voter fraud claimed by Republicans in the N.C. legislature, and also was unconstitutional because requiring photo IDs resulted in racial discrimination. 

It also had ruled that if an individual had been convicted of a felony but had completed their active sentence, their right to vote would be restored even though they still had to report periodically for community supervision. This ruling restored the right to vote to approximately 56,000 North Carolinians.

It also had ruled that extreme gerrymandering was unconstitutional and ruled that U.S. congressional district maps for North Carolina had to be redrawn to resolve racial discrimination.

Six months after Republicans gained a majority on the N.C. Supreme Court, all three of these rulings were reversed. Picture IDs now are required to vote; persons convicted of felonies who have completed their active sentences cannot vote until they also have finished any community supervision requirements; and the Republican dominated legislature’s finely drawn congressional districts will assuredly result in an unbalanced Republican majority of the 14 representatives from North Carolina.

This year’s ballot will include one Supreme Court race and three Court of Appeals judges races (of the total 15 judges on the Court of Appeals).

The 2024 Judicial Voter Guide that includes pertinent information on these judicial candidates is available on the N.C. State Board of Elections website. To see the guide, Google NC JUDICIAL GUIDE. The guide also will be mailed to all North Carolina households before the election.

Here’s how you can take a look at your sample ballot for these and all the races: 

Google NC VOTER LOOKUP 

*scroll down to VOTER SEARCH

*put in your first and last names (and other information if necessary)

*check to assure you are listed as ACTIVE (If you are listed as INACTIVE or not listed, re-register at an early voting site. This is not available on Election Day.) 

*click on your name 

*scroll to the SAMPLE BALLOT section

*click on the ballot for the 2024 General Election (under YOUR SAMPLE BALLOT)

Howard Pearre retired after a career as a counselor and manager with N.C. Vocational Rehabilitation and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. He has led training workshops on voter registration and is a member of  Winston-Salem Writers.