The Judicial Campaign
Reform Act
The Judicial Campaign Reform Act (JCRA) was passed by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2002 to protect the integrity of our state's courts by combating the influence of money and politics in judicial elections.
The JCRA created a nonpartisan state judicial voter guide, with information about the qualifications and experiences of all the candidates running for state Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, written by the candidates themselves. It also includes information about voter registration and voting. Copies of the guide are mailed to every voter before Election Day.
In the past, local judges in North Carolina ran without party labels while the judges elected statewide ran as Democrats and Republicans. Under the JCRA, all judges run independent of political parties though some political parties still make endorsements in the campaigns.
Candidates of both major political parties have run for office and won under the JCRA.
The JCRA created a new system of judicial elections designed to reduce potential conflicts of interest by adopting new rules for how judges can raise money. It helps candidates who agree to limit their spending and not take large political contributions from special-interest groups by providing them with financial aid and matching funds for their campaign from the Public Campaign Fund.
The Public Campaign Fund offers candidates matching funds and financial aid and pays for the nonpartisan judicial voter guide. Most of the money in the Public Campaign Fund comes from citizens who say “yes” on their state income tax form, to direct the state to put $3 of the taxes they’ve already paid into the Fund. Additional money comes from license fees pays by lawyers, private donations and money returned to the Fund by candidates.
© Copyright 2008 N.C. Center for Voter Education
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