The Constitution Party of North Carolina is following through on its threat to sue the state over ballot access restrictions.
The Party and three of its members — James Poindexter of Surry County, Jerry Jones of Greene County and Gregory Holt of Craven County — filed suit a little over a week ago in U.S. District Court for the eastern district of North Carolina against the Kim Westbrook Strach, Executive Director of the State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement.
The State Board officially recognized the Constitution Party in June, and until then, its candidates did not have ballot access. Prior to official recognition, North Carolinians also could not register for affiliation with the Party.
Because of that, Poindexter and Jones ran for election in the primary as Republican candidates and the Holt ran in the Democratic primary. They all lost.
After the Constitution Party was recognized and held its nominating convention, they submitted Poindexter, Jones and Holt as candidates to the State Board. They were accepted and certified.
But then the General Assembly passed a “sore loser” law preventing anyone who lost in a primary election from being on the ballot in November (Senate Bill 486). The Governor vetoed the legislation but lawmakers overrode his veto and the measure became law June 20.