North Carolina Republicans, Armed With New Legislative Supermajority, Are Set To Enact Tough New Voting Rules

Republicans in the Tar Heel state are moving with all haste to reform their voting regulations and remove their Democratic governor’s appointment power over the state board of elections in the latest conservative power grab. The move follows a state representative’s party registration change that resulted in GOP supermajorities in both of the state legislature’s chambers. A set of bills recently passed the state senate and have now moved to the lower chamber for consideration. One of the measures includes a host of changes to ballot counting and verification procedures. One measure in the bill, called simply “Election Law Changes,” would require that all mail-in ballots be received by local election officials by the time in-person voting closes on election day. Currently, North Carolina law allows mail ballots to be counted even if they are received up to three days after election day, though the ballot envelopes must be postmarked before in-person voting ends. A former aide to President Trump, Hogan Gidley, said in a statement on behalf of the America First Policy Institute that the Election Law Changes legislation will help restore confidence in elections. “Making it easy to vote, but hard to cheat is closer than ever in North Carolina,” Mr. Gidley wrote. “This bill is a significant starting point to help restore faith, trust, and confidence in North Carolina elections.”The other bill would increase the number of members on the state board of elections to eight members from five. Current law stipulates that the governor appoint three of the five members of his or her own political party, while the other two members must be of the political party opposite the incumbent governor. The reforms set forth by the state legislature would allow the Republican and Democratic leaders in both the House and Senate to appoint two members each. The two bills were introduced by State Senator Warren Daniel, who called the legislative package “the jumbo jet of election integrity.”“Requiring all ballots to be in on Election Day increases confidence and transparency in our elections,” Mr. Daniel said at a press conference. “Every day that passes after Election Day with votes still coming in creates the possibility of distrust in the process.”Mr. Daniel did not immediately respond to a request for comment. These measures have passed through the legislature before but have faced challenges from the other two branches of state government. Governor Cooper, a Democrat, vetoed such legislation in 2019 and 2021. Now, Republicans are able to pass the legislation with no input whatsoever from the Democratic governor because one formerly Democratic lawmaker, State Representative Tricia Cotham, changed her party affiliation to Republican. Before Ms. Cotham’s party registration switch, Republicans held a supermajority in the state Senate but fell short by just one seat in the House. They now hold supermajorities in both chambers, allowing the GOP to govern the state with nothing more than denunciations in the press from Mr. Cooper. Ms. Cotham has already helped her new party pass a number of conservative priorities, including a 12-week abortion ban and a relaxing of state firearm permit requirements. Another hurdle for Republicans in the legislature was the Democratic state supreme court, which struck down a different reform to the state board of elections. The court ruled that the governor, not the state legislature, had to make executive appointments as part of his constitutional responsibilities. But a new conservative majority on the court could uphold changes to voting laws. Justices of the state supreme court are elected, and Republicans won their majority in 2020 by just 401 votes out of more than five million cast. The conservative court has already handed the state legislature a number of victories, including upholding a new law that requires individuals to present identification when voting, as well as ruling that the legislature has total control over drawing legislative maps. Previously, the North Carolina congressional maps, which were drawn by Republicans, had been struck down for being too disadvantageous to Democrats. Republicans could now redraw the maps ahead of the next election.

North Carolina Republicans, Armed With New Legislative Supermajority, Are Set To Enact Tough New Voting Rules

North Carolina Republicans, Armed With New Legislative Supermajority, Are Set To Enact Tough New Voting Rules

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