Republican state lawmakers in North Carolina voted to override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto against an election integrity bill, effectively enacting the measure.
In a series of votes, the GOP supermajorities in the state House and Senate overturned five of Mr. Cooper’s vetoes, two of which address elections and voting in the ninth-largest state—a likely 2024 battleground where statewide races have been generally close in recent years.
SB 749 will establish bipartisan election boards instead of state and county boards being controlled by the party of the governor. Those boards have to now be appointed by an equal number of Republicans and Democrats.
The state elections board has been five members, with the governor’s party historically holding three of the seats. Beginning Jan. 1, the board will be eight members, chosen by legislative leaders from both major parties and likely creating a 4–4 split among Democrats and Republicans.
Republican state Rep. Grey Mills defended the measure, saying: “The one thing this bill does do is it does improve voting in elections for the entire state. It’s not killing early voting ... we’re improving early voting.”
But when he issued his veto last month, Mr. Cooper said the measures would pose a risk to North Carolina’s elections.
“The legislative takeover of state and local elections boards could doom our state’s elections to gridlock and severely limit early voting. It also creates a grave risk that Republican legislators or courts would be empowered to change the results of an election if they don’t like the winner,” Mr. Cooper wrote at the time.
The governor added that the bills are an alleged “serious threat to our democracy, particularly after the nation just saw a presidential candidate try to strongarm state officials into reversing his losing election results,” adding, “Courts have already ruled the ideas in this bill unconstitutional, and voters overwhelmingly said no when the legislature tried to change the constitution.”
The North Carolina legislature this week was able to override the governor’s veto because they have a three-fifths majority in both the House and Senate. The Senate voted 30–19 and the House voted 72–44 to override Mr. Cooper’s veto.
“Defending Americans’ fundamental right to cast their ballots against efforts to undermine their freedom to vote is an urgent priority for President Biden and Vice President Harris,“ Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement to Politico. ”SB 747 is not about protecting election security. It’s about making it harder for North Carolinians to vote and adding new burdens for voters to cast their ballot safely and, ultimately, have their vote counted.”
It also appeals likely that other activist groups will attempt to challenge the bills in court.
Since the 2020 election, other GOP-controlled legislatures targeted early voting by shortening windows for returning mail ballots, banning or limiting the use of drop boxes, and criminalizing third-party ballot collection. Republicans have argued that such measures can increase the chance of voter fraud.
House Speaker Tim Moore, also a Republican, told reporters that the legislation approved Tuesday “is the correct public policy (and) that it’s on solid legal ground.”
“Our current board structure allows the party of the governor, whichever party that is ... to manipulate the system,” Senate Majority Leader Paul Newton said.
They also passed a measure that prohibits officials from accepting private money to administer elections, and directs state courts to inform elections officials about potential jurors being disqualified because they aren’t U.S. citizens, so they can then be removed from voter rolls.
