By George Reed, Retired Executive Director of the Council
North Carolina has a second primary coming up next month, and in contrast to second primaries of old, this one is NOT to resolve run-offs from the first primary, in March. Rather, because of successful court challenges to legislation passed by our General Assembly, it is to vote on candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives and the N.C. Supreme Court. The date is Tuesday, June 7. Many of us will have a chance to choose U.S. Congressional candidates based on newly-drawn districts, and all of us will be able to vote for a candidate to fill one of the seven seats on the N.C. Supreme Court.
The race for a position on the state’s highest court is incredibly important. In 2015 alone, the court ruled in 74 cases, including crucial evaluations of state redistricting plans for state legislative and Congressional voting districts, standards for investigatory stops by police, and the authority to increase customers’ electrical service rates. Our friends at Democracy NC have prepared an excellent resource “Six Tips for Voting in the June 7th Primary,” including links to:
(1) a mapping tool to find your U.S. Congressional District;
(2) info on the U.S. Congressional and N.C. Supreme Court candidates on your ballot;
(3) instructions for voting by mail in the June primary;
(4) all you need to know to register to vote in June;
(5) opportunities to vote early during the June 7 primary; and
(6) the step-by-step process for finding your sample ballot.
Please be sure to vote by June 7, and encourage others in your church, workplace, neighborhood, family, and community groups to do so, too.
