By Editorial Staff | Gaston Gazette | November 9, 2009 (Original Context)
Third parties have not done well in North Carolina. And that appears to be by design.
The two major political parties — the Democrats and the Republicans — work hard to make it difficult for any other parties to get on the ballot.
It shouldn’t be that way.
This past week, the N.C. Court of Appeals, in a split decision, upheld North Carolina’s restrictive ballot-access law. Because the panel of appellate judges had a dissenting vote, the Libertarian Party, which is the plaintiff in the lawsuit before the court, has an automatic right to appeal to the N.C. Supreme Court.
