It isn’t definite, but the odds that the statewide primary election including the Greensboro City Council primary will be held on Tuesday, May 17 have increased.
Gov. Roy Cooper, as expected, vetoed a bill passed by the state legislature that moved the date of the primary from Tuesday, May 17, set by the North Carolina Supreme Court, to Tuesday, June 7.
The bill to postpone the primary to June 7 passed the legislature with only Republican votes, so it was no surprise that Cooper vetoed it, and Republicans alone don’t have enough votes to override Cooper’s veto.
On Dec. 8, 2021, the NC Supreme Court suspended filing for the 2022 elections and postponed the primary from March 8 to May 17, in order to give the courts time to consider the constitutional challenges to the congressional and state legislative districts drawn by the Republican controlled legislature. A panel of three Superior Court judges found the districts to be constitutional, but that ruling was appealed to the NC Supreme Court.
Because the NC Supreme Court has a 4-to-3 Democratic majority, it is widely believed that the NC Supreme Court will vote along party-lines and find the redistricting maps drawn by the Republican legislature unconstitutional.
One of the reasons legislative leaders gave for delaying the primary to June 7 was to give the legislature more time to redraw the districts and have them approved by the NC Supreme Court, if the court ruled that the original districts were unconstitutional.
However, the NC Supreme Court could delay the primary again, if the court finds there isn’t sufficient time to redraw the districts, so it’s not a done deal.
If the May 17 primary holds, filing to run for office including to run for the Greensboro City Council will resume at 8 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 24 and close at noon on Friday, March 4.
The Greensboro City Council general election will be held on the date of the runoff primary, which may be held on either Tuesday, July 5 or Tuesday, July 26, depending on whether there is a runoff primary in any of the 14 congressional districts or in the statewide US Senate race.
If you want to ENCOURAGE voter participation, you schedule votes when people are not on vacation, like November. If you want to disenfranchise and discourage minority votes, you schedule them close to MLK day or Juneteenth. If Democrats wanted to discourage white rural votes, they’d schedule them for the first day of hunting season, 4th of July or a major NASCAR race. Let’s do it July 5th when a significant portion of Republican voters will be recuperating from July 4th fireworks.
So fishbreath thus far you’ve insulted W Va. a good Southern lady, the start of good ole boys hunting days, the 4th of July and now NASCAR boy you best be careful you’re getting close to riling people up down here. And as far as a voting holiday I say it should be April 4th.
MLK Day is the 3rd Monday of January…..I suppose lots of folks would be up at Beech Mountain snow skiing….huh?
June 19th….sure would conflict with the the proposed June 7th date in the General Assembly Bill.
So do tell us….why did King Roy feel compelled to Veto a Bill that does no harm?
Surely there was no partisan political scheming going on by his doing that right?
Marcus, Roy’s a demoncrat so of course there is some nefarious scheming.
As for stinkythetuna, if anyone doubted your ignorance you have cleared that up! Good job dummy. Recovering from fireworks? WTH? Perhaps you should ask an adult how to handle your derangement. MARK ROBINSON FOR GOVERNOR!!!!
Governor Cooper would veto Christmas if he thought there was something for him to gain politically. He’s turned his back on North Carolinians so many times we’ve lost count. We need someone who will govern rather than be a political worm destroying NC from within. The redistricting is a total joke anyway. Make all races non-partisan and at-large. Then honest people might get elected.
That’s Cooper. . . .party first, citizens second. He learned all he knows from Jim Hunt, and that’s how politics are used in eastern NC. As Harry Reid once said about changing the rules. . . .it works.
The statement in the article that really made me go hmmmm was where it stated the NC Supreme Court would vote along party lines. Seriously??? WTH? What about our state constitution or do they think it’s more of “guidelines” instead of laws? No matter when the vote is it’s our civic duty to get out and do it. Actually it’s a privilege and far too many people don’t appreciate it.