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For immediate release.
April 25, 2006
Contact: Malina Brown
Phone: 919.835.2805

Academy of Trial Lawyers, N.C. Center for Voter Education Join Forces to Give Voters the Facts on Judicial Races

RALEIGH – Today the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers and the North Carolina Center for Voter Education announced that they have joined forces to air new radio ads designed to help voters find more information about judicial candidates in this year's primary election.

“The Academy is pleased to partner with the N.C. Center for Voter Education in a radio campaign intended to help voters get the facts on judicial candidates in time for the May 2 primaries,” says Academy CEO Dick Taylor. “We have been very concerned by predictions that this year's primary election will have a single-digit voter turnout. Hopefully our ad will motivate more voters to go to the polls and cast their vote in these important races.”

The ad, titled “Courts Protect Our Rights,” will begin airing Wednesday, April 26 on 75 different radio stations affiliated with the North Carolina News Network. Based on Arbitron Ratings estimates, the ads will be broadcast to over 422,400 people and hit all or parts of all 100 counties in North Carolina

You can listen to the 30-second message at www.ncatl.org.

A central purpose of the ad campaign is to encourage listeners to seek out the nonpartisan State Judicial Vote Guide now available at www.ncvoterguide.org. The guide features information on all 11 candidates running in the primary for the N.C. Supreme Court and N.C. Court of Appeals. It includes facts on the candidates, such as their experience and qualifications, along with a statement directly from the candidates.

“Our research shows that the number-one reason why qualified voters don't go to the polls on Election Day is not that they don't care, but that folks simply don't know enough about the candidates,” says Chris Heagarty, executive director of the N.C. Center for Voter Education. “Our ads direct voters to the State Judicial Voter Guide because we want to empower them with the facts they need to cast a confident ballot.”

The State Judicial Voter Guide was first used in the 2004 appellate court elections, with notable success. Studies by the N.C. Center for Voter Education discovered that of those voters who recalled receiving the guide, more than three-quarters found it useful.

The voter guide is available at www.ncvoterguide.org.

A general election edition of the State Judicial Voter Guide will be available this fall.

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