Incoming Gov. Josh Stein and Gov. Roy Cooper sought to expand a lawsuit on Monday to challenge a new wide-ranging law passed by the GOP-led legislature earlier this month that removes power from incoming Democratic officeholders.
Cooper and Stein had already filed a separate lawsuit earlier this month over the wide-ranging bill known as Senate Bill 382, but that case focused on a change making the State Highway Patrol a standalone department, removing it from the N.C. Department of Public Safety.
On Monday, Cooper and Stein added to an ongoing lawsuit filed in Wake County Superior Court to target the portion of SB 382 that transfers the governor’s power to appoint members of the State Board of Elections to the state auditor, as well as the part of the bill that shifts the power to appoint the chair of each county board of elections from the governor to the auditor.
The lawsuit they added to was originally filed by Democrats and focused on Senate Bill 749, which would have overhauled the structure of state and local election boards but was blocked from taking effect.