Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper vetoes a bill that could limit his power, but Republicans have successfully overridden his decision.
The Republican-backed bill, “SB 749,” aims to overhaul the state’s elections. With equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans appointed to state and county elections boards, they will no longer be controlled by the governor’s party, which could create gridlock when setting up early polling sites and certifying election results.
In a 30-19 vote in the state Senate and a 72-44 vote in the House on Monday, Cooper’s veto was overridden, allowing Republicans to go forward with their legislation.
“We must take common-sense steps to ensure that our elections are fair and free from perceived bias,” State GOP Sen. Warren Daniel, a chief sponsor of the election bills, said during Tuesday’s debate.
Cooper said that the bill could pose a risk to elections by giving Republicans the upper hand in close results and making it more difficult to cast ballots.
“The legislative takeover of state and local [election] 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,” he said in a statement.
“Every single eligible voter deserves fair access to the ballot box and to have their vote count, and North Carolinians will not stand for this voter suppression,” he continued.
The Democratic National Committee and state Democratic Party have since filed a lawsuit challenging the elimination of the grace period and other rule changes when a voter registers to vote and casts a ballot within the state’s 17-day early in-person voting period.
“This bill does the opposite of what it says it will do — it will actually make the administration of elections more partisan, not less partisan,” said Democratic State Rep. Allen Buansi.
Republicans, meanwhile, argue that voters will now be educated on the new absentee ballot deadline, which is similar to those in roughly just over half of the states. The deadline would not apply to military or overseas ballots.
House Speaker Tim Moore told reporters that the legislation approved on Tuesday “is the correct public policy (and) that it’s on solid legal ground.”
