Election filing: Supreme Court adds more chaos, overturns Appeals Court decision

ELIZABETHTOWN — In one of the most bizzare twists of election history, the filing period for the midterm cycle that was to start on Monday was stopped, resumed, and was stopped again all in less than three days.

At midday Thursday, the legal challenges of liberal groups and a ruling by the state Supreme Court had thrown chaos and uncertainty into the process for electing our leaders. The primary scheduled for March 8 was pushed back to May 17, though a new filing period was yet to be established.

More than 1,400 candidates statewide had already taken care of their business in filing paperwork and fees. Those stand when the period resumes, or they can remove their names with an option to file for other offices.

The state Board of Elections, in a release, said the filings can stand subject to court rulings impacting candidates’ eligibility.

In a release through a party spokesman, the state Republican Party said, “Under Republican leadership, state lawmakers conducted a redistricting process marked by unrivaled transparency, in full view of the public, producing maps as dictated by the Constitution and previous court orders.

“In stark contrast, the Democrat majority on the N.C. Supreme Court, cloaked in secrecy, just blocked primary elections for hundreds of candidates who already filed to run for office. This just injected more chaos and confusion into elections at the direct expense of the people of North Carolina.”

The state Democratic Party, in response to the litigation, said through chairwoman Bobbie Richardson, “I am grateful that the North Carolina Supreme Court is taking action to address this important issue, which will determine the makeup of our state’s electorate for the next 10 years. Halting candidate filing and delaying the primary election are important steps towards ensuring North Carolina voters have the freedom to elect their representatives. Voters don’t need help from legislators to decide who represents them.”

Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, joined in by filing a friend-of-the-court brief asking for Supreme Court intervention. He’s known for his 1992 endorsement, while in the General Assembly, on one of the most squiggly-lined maps in state history.

Democrats who held majority in the General Assembly for 140 years, from Reconstruction to 2010, routinely gerrymandered voting districts to their benefit. Republicans, who have held majority since, have arguably done little different.

But this year, the GOP-led legislature did have an open process, made more of the state’s 100 counties whole in districts, and responded to the last decade’s court rulings when considering race and other factors. Litigation has come their way because they did use race, and because they did not.

The groups that filed the lawsuits — the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters and math experts in one case and voters backed by an affiliate of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee in the other — have said voters would be irrevocably harmed if elections went forward under the approved lines.

The lawsuits say Republicans are set up to win at least 10 of 14 U.S. House seats. They hold eight of 13, with a new one coming this election cycle based on the last U.S. Census.

Lawyers have stated that the state Supreme Court, in the early 2000s, did allow legislators to consider partisan advantage in drawing the maps. Yet, in these, a transparent mapmaking process prohibited the use of political data in map software programs.

“The court didn’t even articulate a legal or factual basis for suspending elections,” said GOP state Rep. Ralph Hise, one of the lawsuits’ defendants. “The Democrats on the Supreme Court want districts that elect more Democrats, so they’re blocking every election in the state until they get their way.”

Before the most recent stoppage, the list here is headed by Dublin Republican William Brisson seeking to retain his District 22 seat in the N.C. House of Representatives.

Jon David, the district attorney for Bladen, Brunswick and Columbus counties making up District 15, has filed for reelection. He is a Republican.

Those turning in paperwork and fees so far also include:

• Bladen County commissioners: Arthur Bullock, Democrat in District 1; Charles Ray Peterson, Republican in District 2; the Rev. Cameron McGill, Republican in District 3.

• Bladen County Board of Education: Cory Singletary, Democrat in countywide at-large; Gary Rhoda, Democrat in District 1; Vince Rozier, Democrat in countywide at-large.

• Clerk of Superior Court, Democrat: Althea Dixon Weaver, Democrat; Jason Britt, Republican; Cristin Hursey, Republican.

• Bladen County Register of Deeds: Beverly T. Parks, Republican.

• Bladen County sheriff: Gary S. Edwards, Republican.

Previously, the mailing of absentee ballots statewide was to begin Jan. 14; voter registration deadline for the primary was Feb. 11; early voting was to start Feb. 17; the deadline to request absentee ballots was March 1; early voting was to end March 5; absentee ballots return deadline was March 8; and the primary was March 8.

All those dates are now wiped out, or tentative at best.

In addition to offices specific to Bladen County listed above, voters here in 2022 will be choosing representation to the U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, state Supreme Court, state Court of Appeals, judges in District and Superior courts, the DA, the state Senate, and the state House.