Fair Elections In North Carolina?

Joyce Krawiec serves in the North Carolina Senate. She represents Davie County and Forsyth County, NC. Christian, wife, mother, small business owner, and conservative.

You silly people, you voted for a Constitutional Amendment to require voters to provide an ID before voting. Surely, you didn’t know what you were doing. The “smarter than you justices” on the Supreme Court have decided that you should be put in your place. When you voted for this years ago, you couldn’t possibly have understood what you were doing. The justices know what’s best for you and all citizens and therefore, you cannot and must not have a Voter ID requirement.

This past week, the Democrat controlled Supreme Court struck again at the Voter ID Constitutional Amendment passed by the citizens of this state. The amendment was passed overwhelmingly by our citizens in 2018. The Democrats believe the citizens don’t have the right to do this. It has been in litigation ever since. 

Democrats also tried to disqualify two Republican judges from participating in the decision. They argued Justice Berger should be recused on the grounds that his father is leader of the Senate. They also claimed that Justice Barringer should be recused because she was a former Senator and served in the body when this legislation was passed.

No talk of Democrat Anita Earls recusing herself despite a clear conflict of interest. Justice Earls was counsel for the plaintiffs in the original filing. That is a clear conflict in most minds.

The court decided to speed up the timeline and move the case quickly. Why do you suppose that would be? The Democrats fear they may lose the majority and they want to insure that voters will never have a Voter ID requirement as they have overwhelmingly voted for.

Justice Tamara Barringer, in her dissent, says the decision to speed up the case’s timeline “reeks of judicial activism.” She went on to add, “What is happening in this case cannot go unnoticed. An alliance of special interest groups, unable to convince a majority of the people’s representatives to pass certain desired legislation, has now resorted to asking this Court to simply write that legislation into our State’s sacred charter – the North Carolina Constitution. It is a feckless attempt to enable a thin majority of our state’s highest court to supersede the will of the millions of citizens who participate in our legislative process.”

“The majority’s decision…. Lacks any jurisprudential support,” she added. “It reeks of judicial activism and should deeply trouble every citizen of this state.”

Barringer wrote in the dissent, “Plaintiff Common Cause first requests that this Court expedite the hearing and consideration of this matter because it involves a ‘significant public issue implicating substantial rights.’ However, resolution of this appeal will have no impact on the 2022 elections, and Common Cause fails to identify a single real – world, negative consequence that will occur if this case proceeds in customary fashion.”

In a convoluted opinion by the Democrat controlled Supreme Court, they determined that the judiciary, not the Legislature, has the ultimate say in whether Constitutional Amendments can be put to the people for a vote. The Democrats argue that the districts were “gerrymandered” and therefore, the Legislature was illegitimate, and the law passed under those members should be voided. 

Does that mean that all the laws passed by the General Assembly are null and void? How do they decide one is not legitimate, but others are? Does this mean that we must go back and void all legislation passed when Democrats controlled the General Assembly for 140 years. After all, those were the most gerrymandered districts that ever existed. 

The Court is saying that the people’s vote doesn’t matter. The judiciary should have the authority over the millions of votes cast by the people of this state. This is shameful.

One would think that any justice, regardless of party or personal views on map districts, would decide that a direct vote, overwhelmingly, from the people would place the issue out of the reach of the judiciary. Nope. Four Democrats on the North Carolina Supreme Court have decided that they have the ultimate authority. 

You, dear reader, have an opportunity to stop judicial overreach this November. Please support Trey Allen and Richard Dietz for North Carolina Supreme Court. Both are leading in the polls, and if both are elected, Republicans will again have the majority on the court. Tell your friends, family, and neighbors to vote Republican up and down the ballot this November.