Republicans Can’t Restructure North Carolina’s Election Boards, Judges Decide

A bipartisan three-judge panel in North Carolina ruled that a Republican-led effort in the state Legislature to restructure state and county election boards is unconstitutional.

Their ruling, which contained no dissenting opinions, leaves in place the current composition of the state election board, which consists of three Democratic members and two Republican members.

Representatives of the Republican-led parliament did not indicate on Tuesday whether they would appeal the decision.

The legislation, passed last year by the Republican supermajority, would have upset the balance between state and county election boards in the state, creating an eight-member state election board, with an equal number of Democrats and Republicans running for office. the state legislature would have been appointed to the council. . Provincial election boards would be created for similar impasses.

Under current law, the state’s governor appoints the members of the five-member state election board. The process for county election boards, which currently have five members, is more complex, but the governor appoints the chairmen.

Election experts and Democrats, including Governor Roy Cooper, claimed the bill would lead to gridlock on many key election issues.

The three-judge panel, composed of two Republicans and one Democrat, called the effort a “stark and egregious removal of the governor’s appointment power” and said it “violates the governor’s constitutional duties.”

Republicans who support the law face an increasingly short window to appeal the decision in time for the 2024 elections, and will most likely have to go to the state Supreme Court if they want a decision before November.