RALEIGH – The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina (ACLU-NC) today released its 2013 legislative report card, which rates members of the North Carolina General Assembly based on their votes on various pieces of legislation the ACLU-NC supported or opposed in the most recent session.
This year’s report card rates legislators based on how they voted on legislation in five issue areas: voting rights, reproductive rights, racial justice, privacy rights, and religious liberty. While the ACLU-NC supported several bills this year that would have improved protections of or expanded civil liberties, many with bipartisan support, none of the bills were given a final vote in the House and Senate. As a result, the report card rates legislators exclusively on how they voted on legislation the ACLU-NC opposed.
In the House, 15 members, or 12.5% of the body, had a 100% voting record in line with ACLU-NC positions, while 57 House members, or 47.5% of the body, had a 0% voting record.
In the Senate, 24 members, or 48% of the body, had a 0% voting record in line with ACLU-NC positions, while only one member, Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, who resigned at the end of this year’s session, had a voting record that was 100% in line with ACLU-NC positions.
Those numbers do not include members who were absent for votes or who did not vote on one of the bills included in the ratings system.