Cooper tries again to block two proposed amendments, Supreme Court denies fast track request

Here's a look at North Carolina's proposed constitutional amendments

Lawmakers say the new wording of the two amendments addresses the court's concerns, but Cooper insists neither of the revised amendments fully inform voters of their impact and don't meet the requirement that ballot proposals be fair and accurate.

"Although the General Assembly has excised some of the more flagrant aspects of the original ballot questions that the [three-judge] panel enjoined, the new versions are still neither fair nor accurate. They are still misleading. They are still incomplete. And they still fail to inform voters of their primary purpose and effect," Cooper's attorneys wrote in a petition filed Tuesday with the Supreme Court. "Ultimately, these ballot questions still do not fully and fairly inform the voters of what is at stake or facilitate an intelligent, independent decision on the proposed amendments."

The chairmen of the House and Senate elections committees blasted the petition Wednesday as "despotic and despicable."

"Beyond all the name-calling and drama, Governor Cooper can’t point to a single legitimate reason why the new amendments don’t meet that [three-judge panel's] standard," Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell, and Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, said in a joint statement. "By making up more reasons to sue – and by going around the three-judge panel and straight to the Supreme Court, which is extraordinarily irregular – Governor Cooper’s true motives are laid bare: he doesn’t want the people of North Carolina to vote on these issues, ever."

State elections officials said they must start printing ballots by Sept. 1 to meet the federal requirement that absentee voters have 45 days before an election during which to vote. Cooper's petition notes that window is quickly closing, so the governor doesn't have time to pursue a normal legal challenge to the new amendments.

The petition seeks a temporary delay in the ballot-printing process so the Supreme Court can weigh his arguments and decide whether to put the proposed amendments on the November ballot.

"Immediate relief from this court is needed to preserve the status quo and avoid the irreparable harm that would result if these new ballot questions were permitted to appear on the ballot," the petition states.