N.C. Center For Voter Education Warns: Judicial Election Reform Needed Now; Public Backs Reforms, According To Poll

7/19/2002

From: Jesse Rutledge of the N.C. Center for Voter Education, 919-839-1200 or 919-656-0877

RALEIGH, July 19 -- North Carolina needs to make crucial changes to its system of electing judicial candidates this year, or it risks seriously eroding the public's confidence in their system of courts and judges, says the North Carolina Center for Voter Education.

"States like Ohio, Alabama and Texas have already gone past the point of no return," said Robert Morgan, the former United States Senator who serves as Chairman of the Center for Voter Education. Morgan was referring the multi-million dollar campaigns for the bench in those states, where the courts are partisan battlegrounds and judicial elections are high-stakes contests funded by special interest groups and political parties.

"We in North Carolina have been very, very fortunate. We've had an exemplary judiciary and gentlemanly campaigns," Morgan said. "But, we've got no guarantee that will continue. We risk losing public faith in our judiciary and in the fairness and impartiality of our courts if we don't make immediate changes."

Polling information confirms that the public is wary of the increasing role of both money and politics in judicial campaigns. They see both as threats to the impartiality and fairness of the North Carolina courts system. According to a survey recently completed for the Center or Voter Education, 58 percent of state voters now believe that there are two system of justice in North Carolina: one for the rich and powerful, and one for everyone else.

At a legislative committee meeting in Raleigh on July 17th, the incoming President of the American Bar Association (ABA), A.P. Carlton, endorsed a legislative proposal that would make badly-needed changes to the state's judicial election system.

"Judges are different than legislators or executives," Carlton said at the meeting. "We elect them to be impartial. We don't elect them to have an agenda. With our current system of campaign finance, we are running them with an agenda."

Legislation has been approved by the North Carolina Senate that would create a voluntary public financing alternative for qualified appellate-level judicial candidates, make those races non-partisan, and mandate the production of a state voter guide to help educate voters about judicial candidates qualifications and experience. The bill would also reduce the contribution limit from $4,000 to $1,000 per donor for all candidates for these offices. The bill is currently being considered by the NC House of Representatives.

Center for Voter Education research indicates that 71 percent of voters favor this package of reforms, and that the support is bipartisan: 70 percent of Republicans support the changes, as do 71 percent of Democrats.