A voting rights group is asking North Carolina Republican leaders to work with President Obama on filling the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy. It's been a topic of national debate since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
Top Republican U.S. Senate leaders say they believe the Supreme Court vacancy shouldn't be filled until there's a new president.
But the nonpartisan group Common Cause North Carolina wants state Republican leaders to reconsider. The organization delivered a petition with about 17,000 signatures to Sen. Richard Burr's office in Winston-Salem. Bob Phillips, an official with Common Cause NC, says they're contacting other Republicans as well.
“There are two cases that are before the U.S. Supreme Court or will be, and that's voting rights and redistricting,” says Phillips. “We just don't want to see the issues that need to be resolved that are going to impact this state be kind of held hostage by this deadlock until the vacancy is filled.”
A recent High Point University poll finds several North Carolinians want the appointment process to begin this year. More than 60 percent of those surveyed say President Obama should nominate a replacement.
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