North Carolina Republican lawmakers voted to strip the state’s incoming Democratic governor and attorney general of key powers, passing a sweeping bill before the GOP most likely loses its veto-proof supermajority in the Legislature next year.
The legislation would grant the authority to appoint members to the state's election board, which oversees the voting process in North Carolina, to the state auditor, an office that will be held by Republican Dave Boliek after he defeated incumbent Democrat Jessica Holmes in the Nov. 5 election.
That power currently lies with the governor's office, which will remain in Democratic hands after Attorney General Josh Stein defeated Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. Republicans have long sought control of the State Board of Elections, which is historically controlled by the same party as the governor, but the courts have foiled their past efforts.
The legislation would also shorten the time for voters to fix ballot errors and require counties to count ballots more rapidly.
The changes are just one part of a massive, 131-page bill that includes hurricane relief funding and would advance a spate of other Republican legislative priorities. The law was written behind closed doors and introduced as a committee substitute Tuesday morning, replacing a long-discarded bill about dental practices.
Both GOP-controlled chambers passed it over just two days, though three Republicans opposed the measure in the House on Tuesday. After the Senate passed the bill Wednesday, it heads to the desk of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who has criticized the measure as a "power grab."
“State Board staff were not consulted about this significant piece of legislation that transfers authority of the State Board of Elections and makes substantial administrative changes that may make it impossible for the county boards of elections to adequately ensure every eligible ballot cast is counted, especially in high turnout elections,” Karen Brinson Bell, the executive director of the State Board of Elections, said in a statement.
After Wednesday's vote, Senate Republican Phil Berger defended the bill, saying it was “all within the rules that we have," according to the Raleigh News & Observer.
“We’ve expressed concerns for a number of years about how the Board of Elections has been operating under the appointees of Roy Cooper," Berger said. "And we have tried on multiple occasions to put forward the idea that we need to have balance on the board that is responsible for counting votes, and making decisions about elections. The Democrats have said, no, no, no, hell no. And so we just decided that it was time for us to go ahead and take action.”
North Carolina's elections board is currently split 3-2 in favor of Democrats.
The legislation also proposes prohibiting the attorney general, an office Democrats also kept control of in this month's election, from taking legal positions contrary to those of the Legislature. That would prevent the state’s incoming attorney general, Jeff Jackson, from refusing to defend laws the Legislature has passed, as Stein did with the state's new abortion law last year.
The new bill would also strip the governor of some of his power in filling judicial vacancies and creating new Superior Court positions nominated by legislative leaders.
Republicans are on track to lose their supermajority in the Legislature pending the result of a recount in a state House race, in which the Democrat currently leads in the GOP-held district. That means they would be unable to override any future vetoes from Stein without Democratic support.
Stein is succeeding Cooper, whose administration repeatedly clashed with the Republican-led Legislature in the battleground state.
"Many people and communities are hurting and need our help," Stein said in a post on X on Tuesday. "But instead of stepping up, the Republicans in the General Assembly are grabbing power and exacting political retribution."
