Yesterday, the NAACP filed a notice with the court claiming the two constitutional amendments the legislature rewrote after the Superior Court blocked them “fail to cure the constitutional infirmities that formed the bases for the NC NAACP’s claims." Courts had previously ruled that the original amendments did not adequately inform voters of the ramifications of the changes, which include stripping the governor of the ability to make judicial appoints and creating an eight-body ethics and elections oversight board split evenly between the two parties.
Governor Cooper also has a pending lawsuit against the two rewritten constitutional amendments. Courts have yet to act on that case.
On Monday night, a state panel of judges ruled congressional maps had been unconstitutionally gerrymandered by Republicans. That decision, if it stands lawmakers’ request to the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay, could also hold up ballot printing.
The deadline for printing the ballots is September 22, when federal law requires absentee ballots be mailed.
UPDATE: The North Carolina State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement released the following statement.
With time dwindling before November ballots must be finalized and printed, Cooper and the NAACP asked the justices if they could use their old lawsuits to challenge the new questions. The court said no.
The governor and NAACP now may have to decide between filing new lawsuits in Wake County court that specifically challenge the updated amendments or give up and let the referendums go on the fall ballot. …
The justices may have opened the door for Cooper and the groups to resume their legal fight by issuing a separate order Wednesday night blocking the state elections board from preparing ballots until ordered by the court. Otherwise, the state Attorney General's Office told the justices in a brief that elections officials needed a resolution by Saturday to get ballots printed on time to comply with federal law.
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