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Before the GOP most certainly loses its veto-proof supermajority in the Legislature next year, Republican legislators
In North Carolina passed a comprehensive plan that will deprive the state’s future Democratic governor and attorney general of important powers.
The bill would give the state auditor, who will be occupied by Republican Dave Boliek after his victory over incumbent Democrat Jessica Holmes in the election on November 5,
The power to choose representatives to the state’s election board, which regulates North Carolina’s voting process.
Since Attorney General Josh Stein beat Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the governor’s office, which now has that authority, will continue to be in Democratic hands.
The State Board of Elections is traditionally governed by the same party as the governor, and Republicans have long wanted to take control of it, but their previous attempts have been thwarted by the courts.
The bill would also force counties to count votes more quickly and reduce the amount of time voters have to correct ballot problems.
The amendments are but one section of a comprehensive 131-page plan that would further several other Republican legislative aims in addition to providing funds for disaster recovery.
A long-discarded measure concerning dental practices was replaced by the legislation, which was drafted behind closed doors and submitted as a committee replacement Tuesday morning.
Three Republicans rejected the proposal in the House on Tuesday, but it was enacted in only two days by both GOP-controlled houses. The law, which was approved by the Senate on Wednesday,
Will now be sent to Democratic Governor Roy Cooper, who has denounced the bill as a “power grab.” In a statement, Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board of Elections, said,
“State Board staff were not consulted about this significant piece of legislation that transfers authority of the State Board of Elections and makes substantial administrative changes.
That may make it impossible for the county boards of elections to adequately ensure every eligible ballot cast is counted, especially in high turnout elections.”
According to the Raleigh News & Observer, Senate Republican Phil Berger defended the law after Wednesday’s vote, stating that it was “all within the rules that we have.”
“We have been concerned for several years about the way the Board of Elections has been run by Roy Cooper’s appointees,” Berger said. And we have made many attempts .
To present the argument that the board in charge of tallying votes and making election-related decisions ought to be balanced. According to the Democrats, the answer is no, no, no, hell no.
Therefore, we just concluded that it was time for us to act. At the moment, Democrats have a 3-2 majority on North Carolina’s elections board.
Additionally, the bill suggests that the attorney general, a post that Democrats also retained in last month’s election, be prohibited from adopting legal stances that conflict with those of the Legislature.
As Stein did with the state’s new abortion legislation last year, this would stop Jeff Jackson, the state’s incoming attorney general, from declining to defend laws enacted by the Legislature.
Additionally, the new law would deprive the governor of part of his authority to appoint new Superior Court justices and fill judicial vacancies that legislative leaders recommend.
Depending on the outcome of a recount in a state House contest, where the Democrat is now leading in the GOP-held district, Republicans might lose their supermajority in the Legislature.
Therefore, without Democratic backing, they would not be able to overcome Stein’s vetoes in the future.
Stein is taking over for Cooper, whose administration has fought with the battleground state’s Republican-led Legislature. Stein said on Tuesday,
“Many people and communities are hurting and need our help,” in a post on X. “But instead of stepping up, the Republicans in the General Assembly are grabbing power and exacting political retribution.”