Politics

September 11, 2014 - A Facing South analysis finds that candidates for the North Carolina Supreme Court and Court of Appeals are set to spend record sums on campaign ads in the coming weeks. The election will be the first in a decade without the state's public financing program for judges, and special-interest money is pouring in.

September 11, 2014 - An analysis by a voting rights watchdog found that 454 North Carolina citizens who would have been able to successfully cast ballots in previous elections had their votes discounted in this year's primary because of the state's new election law -- and those affected were disproportionately African Americans and Democrats.

September 5, 2014 - Two election cycles after the landmark Supreme Court decision loosening restrictions on corporate money in politics, research is emerging that assesses its impact on our political system -- and it finds that the decision has disproportionately benefited Republicans, especially in North Carolina and Tennessee.

September 4, 2014 - With money pouring in from groups that don't have to disclose their donors, this is being called the "Dark Money Election." But a number of innovative initiatives are underway to limit money in politics and to promote reforms that give political power back to ordinary Americans.

August 29, 2014 - Groups in favor of and opposed to school vouchers have invested heavily in the North Carolina legislature and the state Supreme Court, which is now being asked to release voucher money despite a recent lower court ruling that the program is unconstitutional.

August 29, 2014 - The Texas League of Young Voters heads to federal court next week to make the case that the state's voter ID law, which recognizes gun licenses but not student IDs for verifying identity at the polls, violates the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

August 28, 2014 - Last week a North Carolina judge minced no words in his ruling that a law giving taxpayer-funded vouchers to low-income families that want to send their children to private schools was a violation of the state constitution and the public good. Supporters of the program have asked the state Supreme Court to take emergency action to release the money anyway.