Federal Judge Sides with Constitution Party, Blocks N.C. 'Sore Loser' Law | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: This post was written by the staff for the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

    Three Constitution Party candidates will return to N.C. election ballots, now that a federal judge has granted them a preliminary injunction against the state's "sore loser" law.

    Judge Louise Flanagan's 17-page order gives ballot access to N.C. House District 90 candidate James Poindexter, as well as county commissioner candidates in Craven and Greene counties. All three had lost major-party primaries before the Constitution Party selected them as candidates for the November ballot.

    Senate Bill 486, approved over Gov. Roy Cooper's veto, would have blocked all three candidates from appearing on the fall ballot. "An individual whose name appeared on the ballot in a primary election preliminary to the general election shall not be eligible to have that individual's name placed on the general election ballot as a candidate for the new political party for the same office in that year," according to the legislation.

    "[T]he concern is not about the legislator's ability to enact prospective sore loser laws but the retroactive application and impact of this law on plaintiffs' rights," Flanagan writes. "Defendant has not provided, nor is the court aware, of any legislation that has been found constitutionally sound when enacted during an election cycle that disqualifies previously qualifying candidates from appearing on a ballot."

    Flanagan rejected the argument that the lawsuit could cause problems with printing of the November ballot. She noted that other legal actions already have put the state's ballot-printing process on hold.

    The Constitution Party won ballot access in North Carolina in June after securing more than 12,000 valid petition signatures. Voters will now see candidates from five parties: Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, Green, and Constitution.