With the State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement disbanding at noon Friday under a court order, Gov. Roy Cooper said he would appoint an interim board to continue investigating allegations of election fraud in the 9th Congressional District race until a new law at the end of January.
A three-judge panel ruled Thursday that they would no longer stay their ruling declaring the current structure of the elections board unconstitutional, meaning the board is ordered to dissolve.
Meanwhile, lawmakers on Thursday passed legislation over Cooper’s veto that sets a new structure for the board, but it doesn’t go into effect until Jan. 31 so that the existing board could complete its investigation into the 9th District race.
Meanwhile, Mark Harris may try to move the issue to federal court:
Just in from Republican sources: @MarkHarrisNC9 campaign will ask NCSBE to certify race tomorrow. If/when that doesn’t happen, Harris campaign will seek a ruling in Federal Court ordering state to verify election #NC09 #ncpol
— Nick Ochsner (@NickOchsnerWBTV) December 28, 2018
As expected, the Harris campaign has filed its emergency petition to certify the election prior to noon today w/ the current @NCSBE #ncpol #nc09 pic.twitter.com/WZRetI5Lz1
— Nick Ochsner (@NickOchsnerWBTV) December 28, 2018
And it may be that the decision on who gets seated in the race eventually will depend upon resolution by the U.S. House.