By announcing his resignation, Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight has highlighted an anomaly in North Carolina election law: His successor will be picked by the senatorial district committee of the Democratic Party in the seven counties he represents. (Gov. Bev Perdue makes the appointment official, but that’s a formality; she’s obligated to select whoever’s picked by the district committee.)
This means that Basnight has disenfranchised the voters of District 1, who have no voice in who will represent them in the Senate for the next two years. Twenty-five states fill legislative vacancies by special election, particularly if the opening takes place in the early phases of a legislative session. (Something for the new General Assembly to consider, perhaps?)
Moreover, by waiting until Jan. 25 to resign ? the day before the new General Assembly convenes ? Basnight will have the power to appoint political friendlies to open seats on state boards and commissions. There’s no telling how many vacancies Basnight could fill with, uh, allies. But as Carolina Journal‘s Don Carrington noted recently, there are thousands of seats on hundreds of boards, a number of which are little more than patronage payoffs.
We understand and sympathize with Basnight’s rationale for leaving. The timing does seem a bit suspect, however.
