Constitutional Amendments
These amendments might sound good at first blush. The politicians in the state legislature wrote these amendments with intentionally misleading language because they don’t think the voters are smart enough to recognize the truth. Before you vote, it is important to read the fine print.
Click on each amendment to read the fine print
[ ] FOR [ X ] AGAINST
This bill, backed by the corporate gun lobby, designates undefined methods of hunting (including trapping) and fishing as protected rights under the NC Constitution.
The amendment has no language protecting private property rights, and there is concern the amendment could protect cruel or environmentally harmful methods of hunting and fishing from legal challenge.
This amendment requires enacting legislation, meaning the state legislature can pass additional laws to provide the specifics after voters approve the vague amendment language.
Talking points:
- This amendment is unnecessary. There is no threat to the right to hunt and fish in North Carolina.
- The amendment is a cynical ploy by the legislature and the corporate gun lobby.
- It’s not an appropriate use of the state constitution.
[ ] FOR [ X ] AGAINST
This amendment, also known as Marsy’s Law, would give victims of crime at any level a list of specific rights (many of which are already included in North Carolina’s constitution), such as the “right to receive notice of court proceedings, the right to be present at any proceeding and to be heard at some stages of the legal process, and to "reasonably confer" with the prosecutor in the case.”
This amendment also requires enacting legislation, meaning the state legislature must pass additional specific language after voters approve the constitutional amendment.
Talking points:
- Protecting the rights of violent crime is a worthy cause, but this amendment is not the right way to do that.
- This amendment will create unintended consequences, such as, forcing local governments to spend millions of dollars per year in administrative costs and could delay court proceedings.
[ ] FOR [ X ] AGAINST
North Carolina’s constitution currently caps the state income tax at 10 percent. This amendment would lower the cap to 7 percent.
Currently the state income tax rate is 5.4999 percent, but just a few years ago the highest income bracket was taxed at 7.75 percent.
Lowering the cap on the income tax rate reduces the options state lawmakers have when balancing the state budget. Challenges such as roads and transportation needs, a growing school-age population, or an economic downturn could apply pressure on the legislature to make changes to the tax code.
Talking points for this amendment:
- This amendment would make tax breaks for the wealthy permanent while hurting middle and low-income residents.
- Without the option to raise income taxes any further, the state legislature will be forced to raise other taxes, such as the property tax and sales tax, to make up for the revenue they will need to fully fund roads and public schools.
- The state legislature has already started raising sales taxes and fees that shift the tax burden to middle-class families.
[ ] FOR [ X ] AGAINST
This amendment would enshrine the requirement of presenting a photographic ID at the polling place in the state’s constitution.
This amendment, like most others, requires enacting legislation, meaning voters could approve it without knowing specifically what types of IDs would be acceptable to vote.
Voter ID laws have been shown to make it harder for seniors, military personnel, students, and minorities to vote.
Talking points:
- Again, the state legislature is trying to trick the voters. There is no legislation to implement this requirement. Instead, it will give the state legislature a blank check to write new laws about who can vote.
- This amendment will only add obstacles to voting, making it harder for qualified, registered voters to exercise their constitutional right to vote.
[ ] FOR [ X ] AGAINST
This amendment transfers the power to appoint judges to vacated seats from the Governor to the state legislature.
Currently, judges are elected to their seats, but when there is a vacancy, the Governor selects the new judge and they are put up for vote at the next election.
This amendment creates a process that starts with a Commission that creates a pool of qualified candidates for judge. The state legislature then selects two choices from the pool and the Governor must choose one of them for the position. It grants the state legislature the real power to select the two nominees, who aren’t put up for election for several more years after that.
This amendment also requires enacting legislation.
Talking points:
- This amendment undermines the independence of the courts and opens the door to partisan or corporate influence in the judiciary.
- It gives the politicians in the legislature the power to appoint judges who would rule in favor of their political interests and the interests of their big campaign donors.
- This amendment could be used to pack the State Supreme Court, overturning the Democratic majority. A Republican State Supreme Court would not check legislative Republicans power to gerrymander districts.
[ ] FOR [ X ] AGAINST
This amendment transfers the authority over ethics and elections enforcement from the Governor to the state legislature.
This amendment threatens the separation of powers written into the state constitution by transferring executive power to enforce the laws to the legislative branch.
The amendment also changes the composition of the Board of Elections to four Republicans and four Democrats. A 4-4 scenario would lead to gridlock and could lead to a reduction in the popular Early Voting option for voters.
Once again, this amendment requires enacting legislation.
Talking points:
- This amendment is designed to create partisan gridlock on the board that oversees state elections and ethics violations.
- When members of the board are divided evenly along partisan lines, they won’t be able to agree on things like early voting plans or ethics enforcement.
- That means we could see sharp reductions in early voting and members blocking corruption investigations along party lines.
