NORTH CAROLINA OPEN THREAD for Sunday, October 14, 2018
179th Weekly Edition
This is a weekly feature of North Carolina Blue. We hope this regular platform gives readers interested in North Carolina politics a place to share their knowledge, insight and inspiration as we work on taking back our state from some of the most extreme Republicans in the nation. Please join us every week as we try to Connect, Unite, Act with our North Carolina Daily Kos community. You can also join the discussion in four other weekly State Open Threads.
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Elected officials gathered Friday morning outside the Raleigh City Council building to encourage North Carolinians to vote “No” on all six constitutional amendment proposals on the November ballot. Early voting starts next week, so campaigns for and against the six amendments are ramping up.
The amendments are a proposed cap on state income tax, a photo identification requirement for voting, a hunting and fishing measure, a legislative appointment process for judicial vacancies, a reorganization of the State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement and a victim’s right proposal. Lawmakers have not included how each of those measures would work if approved by the public but plan to sort out the details in a lame-duck session if enacted.
Thirty-eight local elected officials from around the Triangle signed on to a letter Thursday detailing the harmful impacts of the proposed amendments to their communities and encouraging their constituents to oppose them. At the Friday press conference, they continued to highlight their concerns.
When voters cast ballots between Oct. 17 and Nov. 6, in addition to choosing members of Congress, state lawmakers, county commissioners, school board members, sheriffs and judges, they will also be asked to consider six proposed amendments to the North Carolina constitution.
The General Assembly voted to put the amendments on the ballot. Why they did so is open for debate. Critics say some of the amendments are there simply to encourage a larger conservative turnout in this off-year election. The Republicans now hold super-majorities in both the House and the Senate, meaning they can override any veto issued by Gov. Roy Cooper. Democrats, energized by the election of President Donald Trump, would love to take control of either chamber and, at the least, hope to eliminate one of those super-majorities.
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