N.C. judge stalls law
State GOP had cut powers of new governor
Raleigh, N.C. — A North Carolina judge granted a small victory to the state’s incoming Democratic governor on Friday, temporarily blocking a law by Republican lawmakers stripping him of control over elections in a legislative power play just weeks ago.
Wake County Superior Court Judge Don Stephens blocked the new law, which would end the control governors exert over statewide and county election boards, as Gov.-elect Roy Cooper is set to take office Sunday. Stephens ruled that the risk to future free and fair elections justified the temporary block and said he plans to review the law more closely Thursday.
North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Martin also could appoint a threejudge panel to hear Cooper’s challenge to the law’s constitutionality.
Cooper sued Friday to block the law. He said the GOP-led General Assembly’s action is unconstitutional because it violates separation of powers by giving legislators too much control over how election laws are administered. Under current law, all elections boards would become controlled by Democrats in 2017 — unless the legislation in question takes effect.
The changes to the law convert the fivemember state elections board from one with a partisan majority matching the governor’s into a bipartisan body with equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats. County election boards would have two members from each party, rather than the current three members with a majority from the governor’s party
Cooper argued that the new law could create longer lines at polling places, less early voting and general difficulty for voters.
“This complex new law passed in just two days by the Republican legislature is unconstitutional and anything but bipartisan,” he said in a statement. “A tie on a partisan vote would accomplish what many Republicans want: making it harder for North Carolinians to vote.” Cooper’s lawsuit makes good on his previous threats to take Republicans to court over laws cutting his powers passed during a surprise special session two weeks ago. Another of the laws requires Cooper’s cabinet choices to be confirmed by legislators.
Redistricting
Separately Friday, North Carolina lawmakers asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stop an order that the lawmakers quickly redraw legislative boundaries and hold a special election for dozens of seats next fall.
Lawyers for North Carolina and its legislative leaders asked Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who considers emergency appeals from the region that includes North Carolina, to rule before the state Legislature convenes on Jan. 11.
State attorneys also want the high court to take over appeals from a three-judge panel in North Carolina.
That panel last summer decided 28 state House and Senate districts illegally diminished minority voting power, but decided it was too late to hold November’s elections under new maps. The same judges ordered legislators to draw new boundaries by March and hold a November special election in the altered districts. That would cut in half the two-year terms legislators thought they were being elected to last month.