On July 1, the North Carolina legislature passed SB 667, which makes several unrelated election law changes. One section of the bill changes the ballot order on general election ballots for candidates running for State Appeals Court seats. The existing law says that the ballot order for candidates for State Appeals Court seats is random.

The bill says that the candidates who are affiliated with the party that won the most recent gubernatorial election are always listed first. Republicans won the 2012 gubernatorial election. North Carolina has five elections this November for State Court of Appeals. In four of them, one Republican is running against one Democrat (candidates for the fifth seat are not yet determined, because it is a special election). Assuming SB 667 is signed into law, the Republicans will enjoy the top line.

Parties do not nominate candidates for State Court of Appeals, but a law passed last year says that the party affiliation of each candidate for that office should be printed on the ballot. See this story. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.

Even though