GREENSBORO, N.C. — Remember those six amendments we voted on last fall?
Well, late Friday, a Wake County court ruled that the General Assembly did not have the legal authority to put constitutional amendments on the ballot last fall.
That means, the amendments we voted for or against in November 2018 might not become law, according to this judge's ruling.
As a result, the court voided two of those amendments - the voter ID requirement and state income tax cap.
These are 6 Amendments on NC Ballot For Election 2018
Essentially the court is saying because of the way districts are laid out those districts don't accurately represent North Carolina. Therefore, when we voted for amendments, it wasn't an actual representation of how North Carolinians feel.
"From a legal standpoint you cannot use illegality to legalize. In other words if the method you use, the means is bad it doesn't matter what the end result is. That's basically what the court is saying," said Dr. Victor Archibong, the Political Science Chair at Greensboro College.
Right now, only these two amendments have been voided, that's according to the Southern Environment Law Center's Lead Attorney Kym Hunter - they are the ones who filed the suit.
"We represent the NAACP and what the U.S. Supreme Court had found is that our legislature had deliberately packed African American voters into illegally segregated voting districts to diminish their power and diminish their voice and that was illegal," Hunter said.
Senate Leader Phil Berger calls the decision 'absurd.'
He sent out the following statement:
“We are duty-bound to appeal this absurd decision. The prospect of invalidating 18 months of laws is the definition of chaos and confusion. Based on tonight’s opinion and others over the past several years, it appears the idea of judicial restraint has completely left the state of North Carolina.”
Dr. Archibong said if this decision holds up in court, and the amendments stay struck down the only option would be to try again next election.
"They'll put it up again! If the legislature has the will the legislature will put it up again for a referendum. It is doable, but in this case I think it will be difficult because the control is no longer in control like before," said Dr. Archibong.