Bishop, et al. v. Bartlett, et al.

RICHARD L. BISHOP; JACK L. MOOORE; MICHAEL A. JOYCE and CHRISTOPHER R. DONAHOE, Plaintiffs v. GARY O. BARTLETT, Executive Director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, in his official capacity; LARRY LEAKE, ROBERT CORDLE, GENEVIEVE C. SIMS, LORRAINE G. SHINN, and CHARLES WINFREE, Members of the State Board of Elections, in their official capacities; MICHAEL F. EASLEY, Governor of the State of North Carolina, in his official capacity; ROY COOPER, Attorney General of the State of North Carolina, in his official capacity; BEVERLY PERDUE, Lieutenant Governor of the State of North Carolina, in her official capacity; JAMES BLACK, Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, in his official capacity; ELAINE MARSHALL, Secretary of State of the State of North Carolina, in her official capacity; JANET PRUITT, Principal Clerk of the North Carolina Senate, in her official capacity; DENISE WEEKS, Principal Clerk of the North Carolina House of Representatives, in her official capacity, Defendants.

Case Status

Current Status: On Appeal
Date Filed: Nov 6th, 2006
Last Action: Jul 30th, 2009
Court Filed In: Federal (Eastern District of NC)

Case Summary

NCICL filed the lawsuit in federal court in Raleigh and alleged that the process by which Amendment One from the 2004 election was submitted to voters violated the federal and state constitutions in that the question which appeared to voters on the ballot did not include the actual language of the state constitutional amendment. The lawsuit also alleges that the ballot question and a previously published explanation prepared by the State to summarize the amendment were misleading and confusing. Voters were not adequately informed that Amendment One, if passed, would abolish their constitutional right to vote on certain types of local bond issues. NCICL also alleged that the submission of Amendment One to the voters violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Documents Filed

Document Title Date Filed Court Download
Opinion Filed 07/30/2009 PDF 
State's Brief Filed 09/05/2008 Federal (Eastern District of NC) PDF 
Notice of Appeal 08/24/2007 Federal (Eastern District of NC) PDF 35KB
Court's Judgment 08/18/2007 Federal (Eastern District of NC) PDF 40KB
Court Order to Dismiss 08/17/2007 Federal (Eastern District of NC) PDF 485KB
Plaintiffs' Memo in Opposition of MTD 08/01/2007 Federal (Eastern District of NC) PDF 63KB
Defendants' Memo in Support of MTD 06/07/2007 Federal (Eastern District of NC) PDF 94KB
Plaintiffs' Supplemental Memo in Opposition of MTD 06/07/2007 Federal (Eastern District of NC) PDF 77KB
Defendants' Reply Memo in Support of MTD 01/25/2007 Federal (Eastern District of NC) PDF 89KB
Defendants' Memo in Support of MTD 12/19/2006 Federal (Eastern District of NC) PDF 
Defendants' Motion to Dismiss 12/19/2006 Federal (Eastern District of NC) PDF 41KB
Complaint, Equitable Relief Sought 11/06/2006 Federal (Eastern District of NC) PDF 55KB