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For immediate release.
Oct. 10, 2007
Contact: Bryan Warner, N.C. Center for Voter Education, 919.839.1200

North Carolina’s Judicial Public Financing Program Attacked by Group

RALEIGH – North Carolina’s innovative system of public financing for its Supreme Court and Court of Appeals races faces an attack that could undermine the state’s success in educating voters about judicial candidates and in reducing the influence of special interest money in court elections.

A lawsuit filed today by the N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law challenges the state’s $50 judicial surcharge on attorney license fees, which is used toward the Public Campaign Fund.

However, supporters of the Public Campaign Fund point out that attorneys have a vested interest in ensuring that the state’s courts are fair and impartial.

“According to our state’s Constitution, only persons duly authorized to practice law in the courts of North Carolina are eligible to become judges. As such, attorneys occupy a unique role in our system of justice,” says Damon Circosta, acting executive director of the nonpartisan N.C. Center for Voter Education. “While the Public Campaign Fund benefits us all by making judicial elections about selecting the best, most qualified judges, members of the bar especially benefit when our courts are not tainted with the unseemly appearance of special interest influence.”

The Public Campaign Fund allows judicial candidates to voluntarily accept public funds for their campaigns if they abide by strict fundraising and spending limits.  The fund also pays for the state’s judicial voter guide.  The guide was mailed to 4 million homes across North Carolina before the 2006 election.

A June study commissioned by the N.C. Center for Voter Education found that 69 percent of North Carolina voters support the Public Campaign Fund.

The Public Campaign Fund has been available in the 2004 and 2006 elections.  In those two election cycles, 20 of 28 candidates opted into the program, with nine of the 11 winners taking part.

The program has successfully reduced the amount of special interest money in the state’s judicial contests, with public financing replacing private cash as the leading funding source in races for the N.C. Supreme Court and N.C. Court of Appeals.

North Carolina’s judicial public financing program was the first of its kind in the nation and served as a model for New Mexico’s new public financing system.  Several states, including Washington and Georgia, are looking to North Carolina’s example as they consider programs aimed at reducing the amount of private money in their court elections while empowering voters with more information about judicial candidates. 

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The N.C. Center for Voter Education is a Raleigh-based nonprofit and nonpartisan organization dedicated to improving elections in North Carolina.