Thursday Wrap: Surprises amid last-minute frenzy

Two more potential constitutional amendments were added to the November ballot, as the Senate went along with the 7 percent cap on state income tax rates the House proposed rather than the initial 5.5 percent limit. Also, the House approved an amendment calling for a new system to fill judicial vacancies between elections. The governor now appoints judges to fill those slots, but lawmakers will essentially control whose names are considered if voters approve the proposal.

Meanwhile, the Senate gave initial approval to a proposed amendment requiring photo identification to vote. Final passage is expected Friday.

Also on the voting front, the Senate pulled a surprise with late unanimous approval of a bill that would restore early voting on the final Saturday before Election Day this year. The half-day of voting has been enormously popular and was eliminated in legislation passed over Gov. Roy Cooper's veto.

The U.S. Supreme Court ended a long-running battle over legislative voting districts by ruling that maps drawn by an outside expert to fix racially gerrymandered districts could be used for Senate districts in Cumberland, Hoke and Guilford counties and House districts in Wayne, Sampson and Guilford counties. But the high court ruled that the maps drawn by lawmakers would be used for districts in Wake and Mecklenburg counties, where no gerrymandering existed.

Finally, the Republican majority took some of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's appointments to the woodshed, voting down two of his three picks for the State Board of Education, one of two picks for the North Carolina Industrial Commission and a nominee for a special Superior Court judgeship.