North Carolina’s county election boards have not been able to meet for about a month, requiring the state Board of Elections at its meeting Monday to allow newly appointed officials to make some overdue decisions about upcoming municipal elections.
Under the law Republicans passed last year giving the state Auditor the power to make election board appointments, terms for existing [county] board members ended on June 24. The same law says the appointed members take the oath of office the Tuesday following the third Monday in July. That’s July 22.
That left a gap during which there was no one empowered to make local policy decisions.