Free the Vote North Carolina (founded in June 2008) is a

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

-focused Political Action Committee with the primary goal of lobbying for

ballot access Elections in the United States refers to the rules and procedures regulating the conditions under which a candidate, political party, or ballot measure is entitled to appear on voters' ballots. As the nation's election process is decentralized b ...

reform, to reduce burden on political third parties and unaffiliated candidates. The group seeks to educate North Carolinians about ballot access in their state, and equip voters with the knowledge of where candidates stand on voting right. They also advocate for the reformation of the State's candidate nomination system, and the system of primary elections. Free the Vote North Carolina was founded as the North Carolinians for Free and Proper Elections, or NCFPE, in June 2008 by Jordon M. Greene, who at the time was a sophomore political science major at the

University of North Carolina at Charlotte The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte or simply Charlotte) is a public research university in Charlotte, North Carolina. UNC Charlotte offers 24 doctoral, 66 master's, and 79 bachelor's degree programs through nine coll ...

Legislative projects

2009

In 2009, the NCFPE introduced its first legislative project in ballot access law with its Electoral Freedom Act of 2009. The bill was introduced by North Carolina State Senator

Jim Jacumin Jim Jacumin (born November 15, 1936) is an American politician who served in the North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Repres ...

on March 19, 2009 as Senate Bill 731. Soon after, North Carolina State Senator Andrew C. Brock signed on as a Co-Sponsor of the bill. On March 24, 2009, the bill was referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary I, where it was never brought back up; it died in committee when it missed the legislative cross-over deadline for non-appropriation/budget bills. The goal of the Electoral Freedom Act of 2009 was to amend NC Election Law in NCGS Chapter 163 to reduce the number of signatures needed for political third parties and unaffiliated candidates to obtain access to the NC election ballot.

2011

On February 3, 2011, Free the Vote North Carolina's 2011 ballot access reform bill proposal was introduced by State Representatives Stephen LaRoque, Glen Bradley, Paul Luebke and

Jean Farmer-Butterfield Jean Farmer-Butterfield (born October 21, 1947) is an American politician who served as a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives for the 24th district from January 2003 to July 2020. Early life and education Farmer-Butterfield was ...

in the form of House Bill 32 – the Electoral Freedom Act of 2011. The goal of this bill was similar to that of the bill proposed in 2009, but it would also have eliminated the existing requirement for write-in candidates to obtain signatures in order for their votes to be counted.

Lawsuits

Free the Vote North Carolina (as the NCFPE), along with other organizations, submitted an

amicus curiae An ''amicus curiae'' (; ) is an individual or organization who is not a party to a legal case, but who is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. The decision o ...

brief in support of the Libertarian Party of NC and NC Green Party's case against the State of North Carolina and appealing the decision made by the

North Carolina Court of Appeals The North Carolina Court of Appeals (in case citation, N.C. Ct. App.) is the only intermediate appellate court in the state of North Carolina. It is composed of fifteen members who sit in rotating panels of three. The Court of Appeals was create ...

in favor of the State on October 20, 2009. On March 11, 2011, the

North Carolina Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of North Carolina is the state of North Carolina's highest appellate court. Until the creation of the North Carolina Court of Appeals in the 1960s, it was the state's only appellate court. The Supreme Court consists ...

, in a 5–1 decision, ruled in favor of the State, upholding North Carolina's existing ballot access rules. Free the Vote North Carolina supported Stephen LaRoque in a case in

Kinston, NC Kinston is a city in Lenoir County, North Carolina, United States, with a population of 21,677 as of the 2010 census. It has been the county seat of Lenoir County since its formation in 1791. Kinston is located in the coastal plains region of e ...

, where the

US Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

used Section 5 of the

Voting Rights Act The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movement ...

to deny a voter-approved referendum to change all local elections into non-partisan races. The lawsuit (Stephen LaRoque, ''et al.'' v. Eric H. Holder, Jr., ''et al.'') challenged the ability of the federal government to clear or approve election laws passed locally or by states. In December 2010, a US court dismissed the case, stating that the citizens of Kinston, NC do not have standing. Free the Vote North Carolina supported, and was formed as a response to, the plaintiffs in Bryan E. Greene, ''et al.'' v. Gary O. Bartlett, et al. The suit challenged the constitutionality of the NCGS 163-122(a)(2) requirement that unaffiliated candidates for US Congress and other district offices obtain signatures from 4% of the total number of registered voters in their district as of January 1 of the election year. Jordon M. Greene is a plaintiff in the lawsuit along with the primary plaintiff, Bryan E. Greene, who is Jordon's father. In August 2010, a

US District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

upheld the law being challenged, siding with the state. Bryan Greene filed an appeal to the court's decision on November 16, 2010.Brief Filed in 4th Circuit in North Carolina Independent Candidate Ballot Access Case
nbsp;– Ballot Access News

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Free The Vote North Carolina United States election law Politics of North Carolina United States political action committees 2008 establishments in North Carolina