NC Republicans slide election board overhaul into storm relief bill

Featured photo: Jayron32 of English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

This story was first published by Sarah Michels, Carolina Public Press
November 19, 2024

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. North Carolina Republican legislators adopted this adage Tuesday when they snuck major election board changes into a Tropical Storm Helene recovery bill. 

The omnibus bill, called the Disaster Recovery Act of 2024 – Part III, dedicates $227 million from North Carolina’s rainy day fund toward the Helene Fund, to be appropriated by the legislature later. 

But it also touches on a laundry list of other issues, including the makeup of the State Board of Elections and county boards of election, as well as deadlines related to voter registration, provisional ballots and absentee ballots. 

The changes transfer appointment power of State Board of Elections board members and county election board chairs away from the governor — and to the state auditor. 

It’s not the first time North Carolina Republican legislators have made such an attempt. Their first attempt, slightly different attempt, is currently blocked by the Wake County Superior Court pending Court of Appeals action. Democratic legislators have already threatened litigation if the current bill passes. 

Last year, the Republican legislature attempted to wrest control of election board appointments from the governor with a law that would have transferred the power to appoint members to the State Board of Elections to the Republican-majority General Assembly instead of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. 

The law also would have expanded the State Board from five to eight members, which would split the board evenly down party lines as opposed to the current 3-2 split, with the governor’s party holding the majority. County boards of election would be reduced from five to four members, also evenly split down party lines. 

The law passed over Cooper’s veto, thanks to the Republican supermajority in both chambers. However, upon becoming law, Cooper sued over the portion of the law involving changes to the election boards. 

That litigation has been ongoing in North Carolina courts since October 2023. In March of this year, the Wake County Superior Court declared the challenged portions of the law unconstitutional. Defendants Senate President Pro Tempore Philip Berger and Speaker of the House Tim Moore appealed to the Court of Appeals, where the case is pending. 

But this time around, the clock is ticking on what the legislature can do. After county canvasses concluded, Republicans lost their supermajority in the state house by one seat. 

The new legislature won’t be seated until January, but the change means that next year, House Republicans will not be able to override Democratic Governor-Elect Josh Stein’s vetoes. While they still have the power, now is the time for them to try to lock in changes that current Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper may veto. 

This year’s proposed bill would give newly elected Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek, a political newcomer, the power to appoint election officials. Boliek won his bid for auditor with 49% of the vote and will take office upon inauguration in January. 

Under current law, the state auditor’s duties include investigating the operations, accounting, efficiency and legal compliance of state agencies. 

The State Board and county board sizes would remain the same, at five members. Under the Republican auditor’s control, the fifth and deciding member would be a Republican, while the current law would allow Stein to choose Democrats for those same positions. 

The disaster recovery bill would also reduce the time voters have to request absentee ballots, fix issues on their voter registration forms and absentee ballots, and turn in their photo ID if they cannot produce it on Election Day in order for their vote to be counted. County boards of election would have one fewer week to research provisional ballots to determine whether they are eligible to be counted. 

Under current law, voters have until 5 p.m. the day before the post-election canvass to fix issues with their voter registration, turn in photo ID if they can’t produce it on Election Day. They have until a week before Election Day to request an absentee ballot, and until end of business the day before the canvass to cure any deficiencies highlighted by the county boards of election. 

The proposed bill would give voters until noon the third day after the election to fix issues with voter registration, absentee ballots and photo ID. Voters would have one fewer week to request absentee ballots. 

County boards of election would have until 5 p.m. the third day after Election Day to research the eligibility of provisional ballots, as opposed to the previous deadline of the county canvass, 10 days post-election.  

During debate on Tuesday, Republican Rep. Grey Mills said the goal of the bill is to improve the certainty of elections. Voters expect timely results, and he said this bill will help the State Board of Elections do so. 

He also insisted that the state auditor is the “perfect” person to oversee elections. 

“I submit to you that the state auditor is the best place for the Board of Elections,” he said. “Like the Board of Elections, the state auditor has a history of performing very important audits, investigations, just like our State Board is charged with doing after every election.”

House Democrats, on the other hand, labeled the bill as a blatant power grab. While the state auditor will not have management powers over the State Board, the auditor will have appointment power and will direct and supervise its budgeting process. 

No other state places election power in the hands of a state auditor. Most either give the Secretary of State or a dedicated elections office control, Democratic Rep. Maria Cervania said. 

“This is because election oversight and financial and operational audits of state agency agencies are very distinct,” she said. 

Cervania questioned why the legislature would make this change when the State Board hasn’t been granted extra state funds since 2016, even as election changes that require more work like voter ID have been implemented. 

“It’s going to create significant inefficiencies and jeopardize the effectiveness of the roles of both entities,” she said.

Voters didn’t know they were electing someone who would have power over election appointments when they cast their vote for auditor, House Democratic Leader Robert Reives said. 

“They trust that the vote that they’re making for governor is for the actual governor and not for dog catcher,” he said. 

Democratic Rep. Pricey Harrison agreed. She added that it’s likely unconstitutional to take appointments away from the governor and give them to the state auditor.

“But I guess we’ll find out once it gets litigated,” Harrison said. 

She said she’s received at least one letter from county election officials complaining about their inability to accomplish their work in tightened deadlines. 

Democratic Rep. Allen Buansi said the new timeline doesn’t allow county boards of elections enough room to notify voters of issues in time to fix them. 

“In short, this bill will further stress our county board’s elections, because you’re adding much tighter deadlines without any new support or any additional funding,” Buansi said. 

The state House passed the bill 63-46, while the state Senate will convene Wednesday morning to debate and vote on the bill.