Tag Archives: North Carolina

Governor Cooper Vetos Bill that Would Shift Power from Executive Offices (soon to be held by Democrats)

chicanery

Raleigh News & Observer reports that Governor Cooper has temporarily halted efforts by the Republican legislature to restructure power in North Carolina to limit the impact of Democratic wins in the state. Republicans have repeatedly overridden Cooper’s vetos during this session, but speculation is that they do not have the votes this time.

NON-HELENE MEASURES IN BILL

  • “Significantly reduce the amount of time voters are given to fix issues with their provisional ballots and require counties to finish counting all provisional ballots on the third day after Election Day, a process that took nearly two weeks this year.
  • Make the the State Highway Patrol into a standalone department, rather than a subset of the N.C. Department of Public Safety, and require the governor’s choice for Highway Patrol commander to be approved by lawmakers.
  • Eliminate the positions of two Superior Court judges after their terms expire, including a Democrat who threw out two amendments to the North Carolina Constitution that voters approved in 2018 — one on voter ID and another to cap the state income tax rate.
  • Require the governor to fill any vacancies on the state Supreme Court and Court of Appeals from a list of people recommended by the leaving judge’s political party.
  • Allow donations from corporations, business entities and labor unions to be used to fund legal actions for political parties. Shift control of the state Utilities Commission away from the governor.
  • Require an extra step before the attorney general’s office can intervene in matters before the Utilities Commission, such as cases over how much Duke Energy’s utilities can charge for electricity.
  • Prevent incoming State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mo Green, a Democrat, from appealing decisions made by the N.C. Charter School Review Board.”

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“The Surprising Impact of North Carolina’s New Voter ID Law”

voter id,

NY Times: 2024 is the first general election under the state’s new voter ID law. Overall, the new voter ID law did not result in many votes being rejected. That said, the current law is significantly more voter-friendly than the original, which drew the legal challenge. North Carolina’s law is still stricter than most because it requires both mail and in-person voters to show proof of identity.

“But unlike the 2013 law, it offers voters an array of acceptable ID cards, from drivers licenses to student IDs to free state ID cards. If voters have no ID — older people who do not have a driver’s license and mail voters who do not have printers to copy their IDs, among many others — they can ensure their ballots count with the affidavit of explanation, or can show an ID later at a local elections office.”

Lots of interesting facts in this article:

  • “November’s election offered some evidence that the voter ID law disproportionately hindered Democrats. Of the 2,169 provisional ballots involving ID problems, registered Democrats cast 42 percent, registered unaffiliated voters 30 percent and registered Republicans 26 percent, said Michael Bitzer, an expert on North Carolina politics at Catawba College.”
  • Even a small impact might matter, as in the tight race for the judicial seat in NC this cycle.
  • “Today, however, at least 35 states have ID requirements, a prerequisite that has become broadly popular among voters across party lines who see it as a common-sense precaution.”

Given the complete lack of evidence of in-person voter fraud, the popularity of these last still baffles me!!

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“Losing GOP candidate for NC Supreme Court challenges 60,000 ballots as recount starts”

absentee ballots, ballot access, judicial elections, provisional ballots, recounts,

News&Observer: Jefferson Griffin, the Republican candidate for North Carolina Supreme Court, requests a recount where he trails by 625 votes while also filing “a series of election protests on Tuesday challenging the validity of over 60,000 ballots cast across the state.”

His complaints, some of which have already been rejected by courts include:

  • “[C]ounties improperly counted ballots from voters who voted early but died before Election Day.”
  • Votes should be rejected from those “serving a felony sentence as of Election Day.”
  • Votes should be rejected from individuals who failed to attach “a driver’s license number or Social Security number” to their voter registrations, even though state law does not require this.
  • Votes from “military and overseas voters who have never resided in North Carolina” should be rejected despite laws that appear to permit this in certain circumstances.
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“Republicans in North Carolina pass sweeping changes to consolidate power”

election administration, legislation and legislatures, provisional ballots

Washington Post. North Carolina Republicans are back at it! The North Carolina legislature (controlled by Republicans) is seeking “last-minute inclusions” in a hurricane relief bill that “will strip the incoming Democratic governor and attorney general of significant authority before the GOP loses its legislative supermajority.”

Among the powers being stripped:

  • Control over election boards: “The lame-duck bill will shift the ability to appoint members of the state and county elections boards from the governor to the state auditor. That will mean Republicans instead of Democrats will control those boards, which oversee ballot tallies, set voting rules and decide how many early-voting locations to open.”
  • Control over judicial vacancies: “the governor must fill any vacancies on the state’s top courts with appointees recommended by the political party of the departing judge.”

The bill also makes it harder for voters to cast provisional ballots: Voters who do not bring a photo ID to the polls will only have three days (previously nine) to show up.

It is unclear if the NC GOP has the votes to pass the measure.

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