Fourth Circuit Stays Order that Would Have Reinstated Statewide Judicial Primaries in North Carolina

Posted on by February 9, 2018
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On February 9, the 4th circuit stayed the U.S. District Court order in North Carolina Democratic Party v Berger, 18-1150. The vote was 2-1. Judges Stephanie Thacker (an Obama appointee) and Paul Niemeyer (a Bush Sr. appointee) were in the majority. Judge Diana Motz (a Clinton appointee) dissented.

Therefore, there will be no 2018 primaries for the four statewide judicial elections in North Carolina. Even though party labels are on the ballot, all candidates will qualify as individuals and will only appear on the November ballot. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news. The Fourth Circuit did not issue any explanation for its decision.

Ballotpedia is Collecting and Displaying 2018 Candidate Lists, Even Before Filing in Most States has Closed

Posted on by February 9, 2018
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Ballotpedia is already collecting and making available lists of 2018 candidates for all statewide office, in all states, even though filing deadlines are still in the future in almost all states. Ballotpedia searches for information about candidate announcements to help compile the list. Once the filing deadline passes in a particular state, the page will be amended to just show the candidates who actually got on the primary or general election ballot. See here. In order to obtain the list for any particular state, one must input a particular residence address for that state, because apparently the editors thought this tool is only interesting to people to learn about their own state.