Republican lawmakers have voted to override new Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of a bill that reduces his authority over state elections, the latest partisan clash in North Carolina over laws that chip away at executive branch power.
The House completed the override Tuesday, a day after the Senate cast a similar vote that exceeded the three-fifths majorities required to enact the law despite Cooper’s objections. The governor has threatened a legal challenge over the law, which takes effect early next week.
“Time and again their attempts to rig elections have been found unconstitutional. This bill simply repackages similar legislation that has already been struck down by the court,” Cooper spokesman Ford Porter said in a release, adding the governor “will continue to protect the right to vote and fight for fair elections.”
But legislative leaders rushed to courthouses within minutes of the override to ask judges to declare the new law satisfied their previous concerns about a similar elections law approved just before Cooper took office and that a three-judge panel overturned last month.