Dan Way reports for Carolina Journal that groups asking for the amendments to be struck down say the amendments are vague and the General Assembly got it’s supermajority through illegal gerrymandering. The groups filed the lawsuit Monday, August 6th.
Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, and House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, are among the defendants. Each responded to the lawsuit with a written statement.
“We predicted Democratic activists would launch absurd legal attacks to keep the voters from deciding on their own Constitution, but this one really jumps the shark,” Berger spokesman Bill D’Elia said.
“The most frivolous lawsuit of them all, the NAACP is advancing a completely spurious argument already rejected by the courts simply to score points against overwhelmingly popular amendments,” said Moore spokesman Joseph Kyser.
The lawsuit says the unlawful gerrymandering led to veto-proof Republican majorities in both legislative chambers, allowing Republicans to place six vaguely worded and incomplete constitutional amendments before voters in the fall election.
The NAACP and Clean Air Carolina say Republicans are in violation of the constitution for not clearly communicating the effects of the amendments. One effect being that the voter photo ID amendment “could quickly create significant confusion in our system of voting, and a new host of equal protection issues for voters”.
Read the full story here.
