A bill filed last week in the N.C. Senate would put on the 2012 ballot referenda on whether to change the North Carolina Constitution.

According to The Associated Press, if the bill passes, Old North State voters will asked to decide whether the state constitution should be altered to limit the House speaker and Senate president pro tempore to three consecutive terms.

The bill, sponsored by Republicans, is an obvious swipe at former Sen. Marc Basnight, D-Dare, who resigned in late January.

Basnight had a record-setting run as Senate president pro tempore. His legislative accomplishments č and pork-dispensing maneuvers č rankled Republicans and some Democrats to no end.

Basnight was able to acquire and maintain his power partly because he served in a largely rural district and had few serious challengers come election time.

The contacts Basnight built through his longevity and shrewdness aided him in carrying out an agenda the GOP mostly opposed, and as long as the Democrats retained control of the Senate his leadership job was secure.

Of course, the Democrats lost control of the House and the Senate last fall.

The Senate bill also would require the governor and lieutenant governor to run in tandem in a general election.

On the whole, we have no problem with letting the voters decide whether there should be term limits for the top two leadership positions in the General Assembly. And we don’t see anything wrong with the gubernatorial portion of the bill, either.

Voters should be consulted more frequently in matters of government, and a referendum is about the most inclusive, accurate way we know to take our democracy’s temperature.

So, yes, let the voters weigh in on this issue.

We do have one question: What if one of the longer-serving Republicans in the Senate wants to attempt a run at Basnight’s record as president pro tempore?