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Greetings
Friend
--
The Court of Appeals has reinstated the Voter ID
Amendment!
In 2018, North Carolina voters approved
four amendments to the state constitution. One of those amendments
authorized a voter ID requirement and another lowered the cap on state
income taxes from 10% to 7%.
No sooner had these amendments
been approved by voters than liberal interest groups, led by the
NAACP, asked a state court judge to declare them invalid. In search of a theory to
nullify the votes of millions of North Carolinians, these groups
argued in court that the members of the General Assembly who had voted
to put these amendments on the ballot were in fact “usurpers” who has
no authority to propose constitutional amendments to the people. This novel assertion was
premised on the fact that a federal court had previously found some of
the legislature’s districts to be unlawful
gerrymanders.
On Tuesday, the Court of Appeals
released its opinion in NC State Conference of the NAACP v.
Moore, reversing the trial court. In the principal opinion for
the Court, Judge Chris Dillon explained, “[T]he overwhelming, if not
universal, authority compels our conclusion that the superior court
here erred in declaring that the members of our General Assembly duly
elected in 2016 lacked authority to pass bills proposing amendments
for the people’s consideration, a power expressly granted to our
legislative branch by our state constitution.” After discussing the weaknesses
in the arguments made by the liberal groups, Judge Dillon concluded by
saying, “It is simply beyond [a court’s] power to thwart the otherwise
lawful exercise of constitutional power by our legislative branch to
pass bills proposing [constitutional] amendments.”
Judge Chris
Dillon, who wrote the opinion for the majority that reinstates Voter
ID is running for re-election to the Court of Appeals this
year. Remember Chris Dillon when you
vote!
The NC
Values Coalition was the only organization to file an Amicus
Brief on behalf of Berger, Moore, and North Carolina Voters. If
you're interested in reading the Amicus Brief that was filed in the NCAAP v. Berger
Moore NC Voter ID case, click
here.
If you support our work fighting for
your rights as voters in our successful Amicus Brief, would
you please consider making a monthly or one-time donation of $5, $10,
$25, $50, $75, or $100 towards the work the NC Values Coalition does
in the public square?
Sincerely,
Tami Fitzgerald
NC
Values
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