NC voter ID ruling makes judicial appointments bigger election issue

The North Carolina voter ID ruling is likely to make judicial appointments  – not just to the Supreme Court – a more prominent presidential election issue, says John Dinan, professor of politics and international affairs at Wake Forest University. He is the author of “The American State Constitutional Tradition” among other books and articles, and focuses in his research on federalism, constitutionalism, and American political development.

Dinan says:

“The Fourth Circuit’s reversal of a US District Judge’s decision upholding North Carolina’s voter ID requirement and various other election-law changes is one of several recent cases in North Carolina and around the country that highlight the different approaches taken by Democratic-appointed judges and Republican-appointed judges in deciding cases and will likely boost the salience of the issue of judicial appointments in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Much of the discussion in the presidential campaign has focused on appointments to the Supreme Court and the likelihood that the next president will fill the current vacancy on the Court and could make several other Supreme Court appointments.  But the North Carolina voter ID case, along with recent cases in other states, highlights the importance of presidential appointments to federal district and circuit courts as well as the U.S. Supreme Court, and in a way that could boost the prominence of the issue of judicial appointments in the presidential campaign and upcoming presidential debates.”