Candidate filing for North Carolina’s U.S. House, state house and state senate races will begin on Tuesday at 8 a.m. following a new ruling from the state’s court of appeals Monday evening, according to a State Board of Elections press release.
The court vacated the temporary stay on candidate filing for these contests that was issued Monday morning by a three-judge panel of the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
Candidates for U.S. House races will be able to file at the N.C. State Fairgrounds, while candidates for N.C. House and N.C. Senate races must file at the office of their county boards of elections.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals issued an order Monday to temporarily suspend candidates from filing in all U.S. House of Representatives, N.C. Senate and N.C. House races.
The ruling comes after a lawsuit filed by the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters against Republican state legislators on Nov. 16. The former alleged that congressional maps drawn by the General Assembly “create (and intentionally create) a severe partisan gerrymander.”
As candidates were attempting to file for these contests at N.C. State Fairgrounds today, a message from Karen Brinson Bell, the executive director of the state’s board of elections, was delivered over the intercom to announce the court’s decision.
“The State Board of Elections has just been notified by the Court of Appeals that there will be no filing to take place at this time for the U.S. congressional seats, North Carolina House or North Carolina Senate,” Brinson Bell said.
She added there was currently no set time for when filing for these seats would continue.
Filing for these contests along with those for other statewide offices was slated to begin Monday at noon and conclude on Dec. 17. Candidates wishing to file for other statewide offices, including numerous positions on the state’s judiciary, may still do so.
The court order said the period for the defendants to respond to the plaintiffs' petition for suspension of filing closes on Dec. 9 at noon.
@DTHCityState | city@dailytarheel.com
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