Judges’ races have huge impact on our lives

By Howard Pearre When it comes to elections, judges usually get the least amount of attention of all the political races – few yard signs, rare billboards, a total absence of TV ads. But please consider the following questions: *Why do North Carolinians now have to show a photo ID to vote?  *Why were approximately 56,000 North Carolina citizens who had the right to vote in 2022 taken off the voter rolls in 2023?  *Why will North Carolina, a clearly purple state, likely send a significant majority of Republican representatives to the U.S. Congress next January? The answers to all these questions is that in November 2022, North Carolina voters replaced two Democratic Supreme Court justices with two Republicans who went along with the majority party in Raleigh to ensure its continued power. The Court was changed from a 4-3 Democratic majority to a 5-2 Republican majority. Six months later in April 2023, the new Court overturned decisions of the previous Court on voter ID requirements, voting by individuals with felony convictions, and gerrymandering.  In 2020, Donald Trump was able to claim all 15 of North Carolina’s Electoral College votes by winning the state by 74,483 votes, according to CNN...