The opinion
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NORTH CAROLINA
No. 84A16
Filed 6 May 2016
SABRA FAIRES, BENNETT LITTLE COTTEN, and DIANE P. LAHTI
v.
STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS; A. GRANT WHITNEY, JR., Chair, and
RHONDA K. AMOROSO, JOSHUA D. MALCOLM, MAJA KRICKER, and JAMES
L. BAKER, members of the State Board, in their official capacities only; and KIM
WESTBROOK STRACH, Executive Director of the State Board, in her official
capacity only
Appeal pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 7A-27(a1) from a judgment entered on 4 March
2016 by a three-judge panel of the Superior Court, Wake County, appointed by the
Chief Justice under N.C.G.S. § 1-267.1. Heard in the Supreme Court on 13 April
2016.
Tharrington Smith, LLP, by Michael Crowell, Deborah Stagner, Stephen
Rawson, and Neal Ramee, for plaintiff-appellees.
Roy Cooper, Attorney General, by John F. Maddrey, Solicitor General;
Elizabeth A. Fisher, Assistant Solicitor General; Alexander McC. Peters, Senior
Deputy Attorney General; and Melissa L. Trippe, Special Deputy Attorney
General, for defendant-appellants.
Graebe, Hanna & Sullivan PLLC, by Mark R. Sigmon; American Civil Liberties
Union of North Carolina Legal Foundation, by Christopher Brook and Jenifer
Wolfe; and Civitas Institute, Center for Law and Freedom, by Elliot Engstrom,
for American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Legal Foundation and
Civitas Institute, Center for Law and Freedom, amici curiae.
John V. Orth, pro se, amicus curiae.
PER CURIAM.
FAIRES V. STATE BD. OF ELECTIONS
Opinion of the Court
Justice EDMUNDS took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.
The remaining members of the Court are equally divided, with three members voting
to affirm and three members voting to reverse the judgment of the three-judge panel
of the Superior Court, Wake County. Accordingly, the judgment of the three-judge
panel of the Superior Court, Wake County is left undisturbed and stands without
precedential value. See, e.g., State v. Long, 365 N.C. 5, 705 S.E.2d 735 (2011) (per
curiam); State v. Greene, 298 N.C. 268, 258 S.E.2d 71 (1979) (per curiam).
AFFIRMED.
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